Neoconservatism

See also neoconservatives

Origins

The term 'neoconservative' was coined in the 1970s to describe a group of American liberals whose hawkish foreign policy views and scepticism about the welfare state led them to become estranged from the majority of their fellows on the left. For Irving Kristol, a former Trotskyite who became the archetypal figure in the movement, neoconservatives were "liberals who were mugged by reality." Other key founders include Norman Podhoretz, Nathan Glazer, Daniel Bell, James Q. Wilson, and Seymour Martin Lipset.

George McGovern's Democratic Presidential candidacy was a turning point in the neoconservatives' relationship with the party.This disagreement with McGovern had come from his advocation of withdrawal of troops from Vietnam. Another reason for their growingacceptance as Republican conservatives was their previous criticism and opposition to President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society proposals during the 1960s.

Reagan Administration

It wasn't until the early 1980s that the neoconservatives began having a great impact, with Ronald Reagan's election to the US presidency. Within his administration he included future Project for the New American Century neoconservatives, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeane Kilpatrick, Elliot Abrams, Mark Kampelman, Richard N. Perle, as well as Donald Rumsfeld who all supported his anti-communist policies.

George W. Bush administration

When President George W. Bush came to power in 2001, he appointed Donald Rumsfeld as Defence secretary, as well as appointing Paul Wolfowitz and many other neoconservative thinkers into various positions of influence within his administration.

Aims

Their aims were orginally focused on challenging the domestic policies of President Lyndon Johnson during the 1960's, specifically his great society proposals, and others concerning a welfare state. Neoconservatives then moved onto foreign policy where they became radically against communism, and later in the 21st century against any state which they presupposed had any form of threat to what they saw as American interests, and its dominance.This is done by focusing on "the battle of ideas and ideologies, and on the psychological impact of these policies" within a society as well as reconstituting the American military in order to physically endorse their foreign policies.

Future Outlook

The future outlook amongst many neoconservatives is generally the same, although Francis Fukuyama now holds that the ideology has "evolved into something I can no longer support".These aims are finishing Iraqi objectives, and maintaining American presence within its borders, targetting Iran, the continuing enlargement of the military both in terms of personnel and equipment, to continue to promote their form of democracy in order to attempt to passify the population of the middle east.Specifically Robert Kagan, signatory of the Project for the New American Century and the American Enterprise Institute, holds that America must maintain its presence in huge numbers within Iraq. In 2006 he defended policy proposals by neoconservative think tanks and the Bush Administration to allow a "surge" of 55,000 American troops to be sent to Iraq to solidify American stranglehold within the country. This would then increase American presence alone in the country to 200,000 and mean that this number will not drop until 2009 at the earliest.Although the Bush Administration is currently heading for a sharp exit from the political stageshow, neoconservatism is set to carry on with the show exploiting the daily fears of the American public, and in particular their security fears around the possiblity of another 9/11, as well as emphasising its objective in Iraq.