In this morning’s live stream, I spoke with Jonathan Jacobs—entrepreneur, board member of A Call to Men, and advocate for healthier models of masculinity—about what may be the most dangerous driver of American foreign policy right now: outdated and false perceptions of “real” manhood.
We began with a deeply personal reflection on male isolation—why so many of us don’t even know our neighbors—and how boys are raised to equate vulnerability with weakness. That foundation led us to a stark question: Are we watching a war shaped not by strategy, but by ego?
Through the lens of Jacobs’ recent commentary on Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, we examined how militarized language—“no hesitation,” “epic fury,” “guardian warrior”—reflects a pathological need to perform dominance. Jacobs calls this the 21st century’s first “insecure masculinity war,” where strength is theater and power is identity.
We also explored how this posture may be landing with young men—many of whom supported Trump on anti-war and isolationist grounds—and whether cracks are beginning to show.
This conversation is about more than politics. It’s about how unexamined masculinity—left unchecked—can scale from the personal to the geopolitical, with consequences none of us can afford.
