NEO-CONSERVATISM
Neoconservatism
is a variant of the political ideology of conservatism
which combines features of
nationalism,
and
a qualified
endorsement of free markets.
The term "neoconservative"
(sometimes shortened to "neocon") was initially used in the 1930s, to
describe American liberals who criticized communists for following a path
closer to Soviet communism.
History
Through the 1950s and early 1960s the
future neoconservatives had supported the American Civil Rights Movement, integration, and Martin Luther King, Jr..
From the 1950s to the 1960s, there was
broad support among liberals to support military action to prevent a communist
victory in Vietnam.
Black Power, which
denounced coalition-politics and racial integration as "selling out" and "Uncle Tomism"
and which frequently gave rise to anti-semitic
outbursts, anti-anticommunism,
which seemed indifferent to the fate of Southern Vietnam, and which in the late
1960s included substantial support for Marxist Leninist
movements, and the "new
politics" of the New
left, which upheld students and alienated minorities as the agents
of social change.
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Kirkpatrick criticized the foreign
policy of Jimmy
Carter, which supported detente with the Soviet
Union. She went on to serve the Reagan Administration as Ambassador to the
United Nations.
Skepticism towards democracy promotion
Marxist-Leninist regimes, which she
argued had never been dislodged once they achieved totalitarian control. In
such tragic circumstances,
Leo Strauss and his students
1990s
Within a few years of the Gulf War in Iraq, many neoconservatives were pushing
to oust Saddam Hussein. On February 19, 1998, an open letter to President
Clinton appeared, signed by dozens of pundits, many identified with
neoconservatism and, later, related groups such as the PNAC, urging decisive action to remove
Saddam from power.
Neoconservatives were also members of
the blue team, which argued for a confrontational policy toward
the People's Republic of China and strong military
and diplomatic support for Taiwan.
2000s Administration of George W. Bush
"So why did we
invade Iraq? I believe it was the triumph of the so-called neo-conservative
ideology, as well as Bush administration arrogance and incompetence that took
America into this war of choice. . . . They obviously made a convincing case to
a president with very limited national security and foreign policy experience,
who keenly felt the burden of leading the nation in the wake of the deadliest
terrorist attack ever on American soil."
Views on foreign policy
"Our first
objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the
territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the
order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant
consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we
endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources
would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global
power."
Neoconservatives hold the
"conviction that communism was a monstrous evil and a potent danger".
They support social
welfare programs that were rejected by libertarians and paleo- conservatives.
Neoconservatism first emerged in the
late 1960s as an effort to combat the radical cultural changes taking place
within the United States.
Neoconservatives support democracy promotion by the U.S. and other democracies, based
on the claim that they think that human rights belong to everyone.
They criticized the United Nations and detente with the Soviet Union. On domestic policy,
they support a welfare state, like European and Canadian conservatives and
unlike U.S. social conservatives. According to Norman Podhoretz.
Democracy promotion is said to have another
benefit, in that democracy and responsive government are expected to reduce the
appeal of Islamicism.
Neoconservatives have cited political
scientists who have argued that democratic regimes are less likely to start
wars. Further, they argue that
the lack of
freedoms,
lack of economic
opportunities, and
the lack of
secular general education
in authoritarian
regimes promotes radicalism and extremism.
The closer you examine
it, the clearer it is that neoconservatism, in large part, is simply about
enabling the most irredentist elements in Israel and sustaining a permanent war
against anyone or any country who disagrees with the Israeli right.
That's the conclusion
I've been forced to these last few years. And to insist that America adopt
exactly the same constant-war-as-survival that Israelis have been slowly forced
into... But America is not Israel. And once that distinction is made, much of
the neoconservative ideology collapses.
Neoconservatives respond to charges of
merely rationalizing support for Israel by noting that their "position on
the Middle East conflict was exactly congruous with the neoconservative
position on conflicts everywhere else in the world, including places where
neither Jews nor Israeli interests could be found—not to mention the fact that
non-Jewish neoconservatives took the same stands on all of the issues as did
their Jewish confrères."
Views on economics
While neoconservatism is primarily
concerned with foreign policy, there is also some discussion of internal
economic policies.
Neoconservatism is generally supportive
of
free markets and
capitalism,
favoring supply side approaches,
but it shows
several points of disagreement with classical liberalism and fiscal conservatism:
"Neoconservatism has succeeded in
convincing the great majority of Americans that the main questions that concern
a society are not economic, and that social questions are really moral questions."
Neo-conservatism is a
term almost exclusively used by the enemies of America's liberation of Iraq.
There is no 'neo-conservative' movement in the United States. When there was
one, it was made up of former Democrats who embraced the welfare state but
supported Ronald Reagan's Cold War policies against the Soviet bloc.
Today 'neo-conservatism'
identifies those who believe in an aggressive policy against radical Islam and the global terrorists.
First,
'neo-conservative' is a codeword for Jewish.
As antisemites did with
big business moguls in the nineteenth century and Communist leaders in the
twentieth, the trick here is to take all those involved in some aspect of
public life and single out those who are Jewish. The implication made is that
this is a Jewish-led movement conducted not in the interests of all the, in
this case, American people, but to the benefit of Jews, and in this case
Israel.
Criticisms
The term neoconservative
may be used pejoratively by self-described
Liberals,
Progressives, or
Critics take issue with
neoconservatives' support for aggressive foreign policy.
Neoconservatives respond by describing
their shared view as a belief
that national security is best attained by actively promoting freedom and
democracy abroad as in the democratic peace theory through the support of pro-democracy
movements, foreign aid and in certain cases military intervention.
This is a departure from the
traditional conservative tendency to support friendly regimes in matters of
trade and anti-communism even at the expense of undermining existing democratic
systems and possible destabilization.
Imperialism and secrecy
John McGowan, professor of humanities at the University of North Carolina, states,
after an extensive review of neoconservative literature and theory, that
neoconservatives are attempting to build an American Empire, seen as successor to the British Empire, its
aim being to perpetuate a Pax
Americana.
As imperialism is largely seen as
unacceptable by the American public, neoconservatives do not articulate their
ideas and goals in a frank manner in public discourse.
McGowan states, Frank neoconservatives like Robert Kaplan and
Niall Ferguson recognize that they are proposing imperialism as the alternative
to liberal internationalism.
Friction with paleoconservatism
Starting in the 1980s, disputes over
Israel and public policy contributed to a sharp conflict with paleoconservatives,
who argue that neoconservatives are an illegitimate addition to the
conservative movement.
Pat Buchanan calls
neoconservatism
"a globalist,
interventionist,
open borders
ideology."
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