What did Rory Stewart say about Stephen Miller's view that war is the natural state of the world?

Rory Stewart said a senior American official told him that Stephen Miller, and to a degree Elon Musk, believe war is natural and peace is not. On that view the post-1945 order of cooperation and rules was a naive dream, which explains their support for nationalist parties like Le Pen's in France and the AfD in Germany. Stewart argues that when such figures talk of civil war, they are trying to bring it about.

• Stewart points to Musk telling a Tommy Robinson crowd in Trafalgar Square there would be civil war.
• Alastair Campbell adds Peter Thiel to the list and compares US coverage of France to images of burning cattle during the UK foot and mouth crisis.

▸In their words

“they're not describing the situation when they say there's civil war, they're willing it into existence.” Rory Stewart · at 48:35 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Rest Is Politics (2026-10-20). Read the whole episode summary →

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