Civil War 2.0: An Unmanageable Divorce

THERE’S A LOT OF CHATTER these days, sometimes wistful, about Civil War 2.0. Recently, Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, said Texas could take its oil, NASA and go its own way. In January, professor Barbara Walter warned of the possibility of another war between the states in her book, How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them. A few years back, a The Week editor Bonnie Kristian, said, “We should chop America into seven different countries. Seriously.”

And in 2020, right-wing provocateur Candace Owens tweeted, “I wonder