Today, UNC College Republicans, UNC Christians United for Israel and UNC Turning Point USA are hosting Sebastian Gorka.
Nominally this speech is meant as an insightful commentary on “U.S.-Israel relations and the state of Middle Eastern affairs.”
However, this is contradicted both by Gorka’s own lack of actual expertise and UNC College Republican’s past track record of bringing controversial but substantively empty speakers. Like Ben Shapiro and David Horowitz, Gorka has gained fame by explicitly endorsing the worst racist tendencies of more traditional conservatism.
In Gorka’s case, this has manifested in academically unfounded claims about the inherent violence of Islam and affiliation with traditionally fascist organizations. Gorka’s core claim about the Middle East is that instability in the region has not been caused by poverty, colonialism, recent American policies or failed governance but is instead the result of a fundamentally totalitarian and violent religion.
This ignores almost all of the existing scholarship on the subject. This view fits unfortunately snugly with Gorka’s more controversial affiliations. Not only has he been connected to the Order of Vitéz, an organization the State Department listed as “under the direction of the Nazi Government of Germany” during World War II, he has also expressed explicit support for the Hungarian Guard.
That organization functioned as the paramilitary wing of Hungary’s nationalist party which has been repeatedly decried as neo-Fascist, and was eventually banned by the EU due to its material threat to minority groups in the country. These affiliations and opinions are that of a fringe figure, not a legitimate intellectual.
His credentials do little to offset these concerns, as covered by the DTH editorial board. As an adviser he proved too controversial and unqualified for even the Trump administration, itself the poster child for controversial and unqualified government. His time in the administration was so short in part because he was never able to obtain the appropriate security clearance.
He has been the subject of broad derision in academic and policy circles. To say there are dozens of individuals more suited for this talk would drastically oversell Gorka’s credentials.
None of this is to say that Gorka cannot come to campus, but it should illustrate the bad faith in which he is being brought. His speech will likely generate facile debates of commonly-accepted knowledge.
