During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns quoted a famous Mark Twain line: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” He was making the point about why it is important to listen to the voices of the past, even if their messages offend you today.
The conversation was in the context of his upcoming project on the American Revolution. Burns argued that it is the most important historical event in terms of shaping the world we live in now, because it created a unique political and economic engine, the impact of which we are still struggling to get to grips with 250 years later.
Less than a fortnight after the Rogan-Burns podcast came out, a less refined, more combative exchange took place between two other individuals, which underscores how the definition of what the US is has kept evolving since the 18th century.
When the journalist Tucker Carlson confronted US Senator Ted Cruz in a now-viral interview, it marked the beginning of the end for an expectation of how the US conducts itself on the global stage – with obvious implications for those of us living in this region.
Mr Cruz, for long a dependable voice for hawkish Republican policy and unwavering support for Israel, found himself cornered. Carlson, representing a surging populist strain of “America First” conservatism that is aligned with President Donald Trump’s political base, was pushing Mr Cruz to properly articulate why it was important for the US to topple the Iranian establishment. The backdrop to this interview had been pressure from senior Republicans in Congress to join Israel’s attack on Iran – championed by Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu – with the stated aim of removing any nuclear threat it poses. Mr Netanyahu, it’s important to point out, also called for ordinary Iranians to rise up against their rulers.
Digging into questions about why America should risk a war with Iran, why its support for Israel needs to always be unconditional and if American interests have been co-opted by the agendas of other nations, Carlson sought a rational explanation for such long-standing beliefs of what was good for the country and its people, despite clear evidence to the contrary.
Instead, Mr Cruz fumbled over his responses. He jumped from religious justifications to security jargon and then to accusations about his interviewer’s motives, including suggesting that anti-Semitism and support for Russian President Vladimir Putin were behind his challenging posture. Mr Cruz came across as highly cynical and manipulative, lacking moral and intellectual depth, while Carlson seemed earnest and committed. It may have been wholly performative, but it still made my jaw drop.
The exchange, quite because it was between two heavyweights from the same political and cultural strata, represents the rupture of a long-assumed ideological and religious alliance between the traditional Republican guard, still clinging to post-9/11 doctrines, and the newer class, increasingly sceptical of endless wars and foreign entanglements following the mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Cruz’s inability to make a sensible case for decades-long foreign policies represents a breaking point for anyone who had still been working under the illusion that there aren’t a multitude of transactional interests at work beyond what might benefit the average American.
History resonates with examples of such stunning revelations.
The one that has a similar cadence comes from the Fourth Crusade, when European knights, on their way to try to reclaim Jerusalem from Muslim control, instead attacked and looted Constantinople – considered then to be the greatest Christian city in the East – in 1204. Fuelled by Venetian debt and Byzantine intrigue, the result was a catastrophic betrayal of values that had stood for more than a century.
In the wake of it, public trust eroded, unity fractured and the Great Crusades were undermined. They were exposed for what they were – political, cynical and morally hollow. It would become increasingly more difficult for people in Europe to justify spending resources, lives and years on a cause so far away from home.
Yet this failure had been years in the making. The corruption of crusader kingdoms in the Holy Land, their inability to survive without external support, evolving military technology and tactics that made battlefield victories harder to attain, as well as political and economic shifts at home had made them more costly and less successful. The early religious fervour for war and its legitimacy in the eyes of the populace had begun to fade.
The Cruz-Carlson interview is revelatory in its own way. It has unequivocally brought to the centre stage the widespread suspicion among Americans in the idea that US involvement in the Middle East is fundamentally necessary or noble. By shining a spotlight on this national mood, it may have contributed to a more limited engagement by Mr Trump over the past week.
The “America First” movement appears to have passed its first major test, on its way to being the loudest voice shaping the future of its country and defining a new paradigm for US support to Israel.
The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars
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Chelsea 4 (Mount 18',Werner 44', Hudson-Odoi 49', Havertz 85')
Morecambe 0
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Pathaan
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
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Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
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Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')
Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
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Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
