The founder of neoconservatism, Irving Kristol (L), and the neoconservative president George W. Bush (R).
Neoconservatism is a center-right political movement in the United States that had its roots in the 1960s. Its core belief is that the Western system, based on representative democracy, regulated capitalism and rule of law, is the best realistically possible social system and should be spread forcefully in the world.
Defining traits[]
Neoconservatives, or "neocons" for short, are opposed to communism and counterculture, and prefer progress to be pursued “by moderate men using moderate means". They believe that Western (Greeko-Roman and Christian) cultural heritage should be preserved because it is conducive to freedom. They favor the promotion of democracy overseas and the defense of American national interests, while being critical of international organizations such as the United Nations as lacking "moral clarity". Neoconservatives supported the 1990 and 2003 invasions of Iraq and supported Taiwan against China. In addition, they are known for their strong support of Israel.
Most neocons are not really involved in the culture war, but the more religious among them, sometimes called "theocons", oppose abortion as well as teaching of evolution in favor of "intelligent design". Most of them are very critical of the post-2015 rise of populist nationalism. Neoconservatives are typically affiliated with the Republican Party, but neoconservatives such as Bill Kristol are also found on the centrist wing of the Democratic Party.
History[]
According to Irving Kristol, neoconservatism occurred when liberals were "mugged by reality"; the movement was born among liberal Jewish intellectuals who became disillusioned with the rising influence of the New Left in the Democratic Party during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Conservative-leaning US Democratic Party members opposed George McGovern's presidential candidacy in 1972 and felt that the rise of the black power movement had undermined relations between the Jewish anti-Stalinist left and the rest of the Left. Many of these disillusioned former Democrats decided to join the Republican Party, retaining some of the same views. Some of these included socialists who voted for Richard Nixon and became social democrats instead, moving away from far-left politics in favor of supporting center-right policies.
Since mid-2000s the influence of neocons has diminished. American troops did not find Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (although he did have them at some point) and "Bush lied, people died" became a popular slogan. Despite that, support for the Iraq War stayed about 50% in the 2003-2005 period. Then after Hurricane Katrina many American voters came to believe that it is more important to address urgent problems at home than to pursue costly military adventures in the Middle East. Furthermore, the 2006-2008 Iraqi civil war proved that building a democracy in a traditionalist Islamic country is more difficult than the neocons imagined. Since then, anti-neocon rhetorics has been widespread both on the Right and the Left.