Doug Wead and Charity Campbell review Darryl Hart’s new book, From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin: Evangelicals and the Betrayal of American Conservatism. While there has been a convenient alliance between evangelicals and conservatives, the evangelical movement is not always fully grounded in the philosophy of classical conservatism. Hart nonetheless concludes that evangelicals should embrace traditional conservatism:

What might this look like? Evangelicals should first “reconsider the source of American greatness,” which rests not in what is said to be America’s Christian origins but in her heritage of limited government, religious freedom, and the prioritization of “culture and character formation” to political solutions.

Is the middle class passing into history? Rod Dreher takes a look at a piece by Arnold Kling that claims the writing is on the wall.

Daniel Larison posits that Israel and U.S. opposition to a nuclear Iran stems mainly from a wish to enforce Israeli hegemony in the Middle East.

The desire to retain “military flexibility and its own perception as a regional hegemon” is why Israel is obsessed with Iran’s nuclear program, and the American obsession is closely related to that, but it seems likely that everyone is exaggerating how much an Iranian nuclear arsenal would limit that flexibility. It isn’t clear that a nuclear-armed Iran would be able to stop Israel from doing any of these things. What it would almost certainly do is discourage the U.S. or Israel from launching attacks against Iran, which is the “flexibility” that some hawks in both countries want to retain.”

The Marines are going to Australia. President Obama met with Prime Minister Julia Gillard in the Australian capital Canberra and announced that 250 Marines would be deployed next year, with plans to build up to 2,500. President Obama stated that the troop deployment was in part to “step up commitment” to the Asia-Pacific region, citing China’s “increased responsibility” in the area. China did not react enthusiastically. An editorial in the Communist Party controlled Global Times warned that actions perceived harmful to Chinese interests could stick Australia in U.S.-Chinese crossfire.  Major General Luo Yuan (Luo), deputy secretary-general of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, recently told the Global Times that war between the U.S. and China was not impossible.