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Neoconservatism is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and counterculture of the 1960s. Neoconservatives typically advocate the unilateral promotion of democracy and interventionism in international relations together with a militaristic and realist philosophy of "peace through strength". They are known for espousing opposition to communism and radical politics.[1][2]
Many adherents of neoconservatism became politically influential during Republican presidential administrations from the 1960s to the 2000s, peaking in influence during the presidency of George W. Bush, when they played a major role in promoting and planning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Prominent neoconservatives in the Bush administration included Paul Wolfowitz, Elliott Abrams, Richard Perle, Paul Bremer, and Douglas Feith.
Although U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had not self-identified as neoconservatives, they worked closely alongside neoconservative officials in designing key aspects of the Bush administration's foreign policy; especially in their support for Israel, promotion of American influence in the Arab world and launching the war on terror.[3] The Bush administration's domestic and foreign policies were heavily influenced by major ideologues affiliated with neoconservatism, such as Bernard Lewis, Lulu Schwartz, Richard and Daniel Pipes, David Horowitz, and Robert Kagan.[4]
Critics of neoconservatism have used the term to describe foreign policy and war hawks who support aggressive militarism or neocolonialism. Historically speaking, the term neoconservative refers to Americans who moved from the anti-Stalinist left to conservatism during the 1960s and 1970s.[5] The movement had its intellectual roots in the magazine Commentary, edited by Norman Podhoretz.[6] They spoke out against the New Left, and in that way helped define the movement.[7][8]
- ^ Dagger, Richard. "Neoconservatism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 31 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Neoconservative". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ^ Record, Jeffrey (2010). Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq. Potomac Books, Inc. pp. 47–50. ISBN 978-1-59797-590-2. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- ^ Abrams, Nathan (2010). "Introduction". Norman Podhoretz and Commentary Magazine: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4411-0968-2.
- ^ Vaïsse, Justin (2010). Neoconservatism: The biography of a movement. Harvard University Press. pp. 6–11.
- ^ Balint, Benjamin (2010). "Running Commentary: The Contentious Magazine that Transformed the Jewish Left Into the Neoconservative Right". PublicAffairs.
- ^ Beckerman, Gal (6 January 2006). "The Neoconservatism Persuasion". The Forward.
- ^ Friedman, Murray (2005). The Neoconservative Revolution Jewish Intellectuals and the Shaping of Public Policy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.