President Donald Trump has long been a disruptor of expert orthodoxy. His critics frequently portray that disruption as recklessness. But the results, at times, have forced even skeptical observers to reconsider assumptions that once seemed permanent.

The Abraham Accords are one example. For decades experts insisted that peace between Israel and Arab states required first resolving the Palestinian issue. Trump ignored that theory and pursued direct normalization agreements instead. The result was a diplomatic breakthrough many analysts previously declared impossible.

History offers countless reminders that consensus can be spectacularly wrong.

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, most Soviet specialists believed the USSR would endure for decades. Before the 2008 financial crisis, economists insisted the banking system was stable. Before the internet revolution, media experts predicted newspapers would remain the unchallenged gatekeepers of information.

Experts are not useless. Knowledge and experience matter. But expertise becomes dangerous when it transforms into unquestioned authority.

At that point it stops being analysis and starts becoming ideology with footnotes.

The American public has begun to notice this pattern. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.