The Rise of Neo Conservatism in American Politics

Introduction

Neo-conservatism is a new conservatism that began to exert influence on American politics after 1945 and reached the height of its power during the administration of George W. Bush (2000-2008). Neo-conservatism combines conservative social policies with liberal economics and a Realpolitik (i.e., realist) approach to foreign policy. Neo-conservatism is different from other forms of traditional conservatism (or conservatism) in central locations. While fundamental defining characteristics of conservatism (such as the primacy of family, country, state and nation and the emphasis on religion and values) usually also apply to the neo-conservatism, whose theorists weigh the relationship between freedom and order and tradition and progress differently. Because of the desire for change is active neo-conservatism it has developed since the late 1960s to its present form and sometimes referred as "New Conservative Revolution".

To most of us, neoconservatism is inevitably associated with the Iraq War. A group of neoconservatives, including Robert Kagan and David Frum, played with consummate folly a major role in urging the Bush administration toward initiating that conflict. The movement, on that ground alone, has little to recommend it; but can one nevertheless make a case on its behalf?

After all, neoconservatism was not always associated with reckless foreign-policy initiatives. To the contrary, in its early days in the 1960s, Irving Kristol, Nathan Glazer, and Daniel Moynihan offered in the neoconservative journal The Public Interestcogent criticisms of many aspects of the welfare state. If Kristol could only muster Two Cheers for Capitalism, is this not better than most fashionable intellectuals can do? Perhaps the good elements in neoconservatism can be detached from the recent foreign-policy madness. C. Bradley Thompson emphatically disagrees. He argues that neoconservatism stands in fundamental opposition to individual rights and a free economy.

Neo-conservatism brought forth some of the world's leading politicians such as Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle formative influence on the basic features of American foreign policy under George W. Bush. By the 1980s, however, identity politics began to be seen as something of a retreat from the broader challenges of social and political reform. As neo-conservatism began to dominate mainstream politics, activists became increasingly disillusioned and pessimistic about the possibilities of social transformation. The new conservatism became dominant in the West, leaving the ideals of the 1960s seeming less and less attainable. During this period, identity politics scholars focused less on social transformation than they did on claims for recognition of a marginalized or victimized identity. With the socialist alternative dismantled along with the Berlin Wall, the struggles for a new model of society seemed to have been lost. In their place emerged competing identity or recognition claims that of themselves did not focus on challenging broader social structures. Critics of this version of identity politics saw it as rejecting the search for a comprehensive solution to social problems in favor of separatism and political goals focused on the well-being of particular groups.

Discussion

Neoconservative social policies are characterized by opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage, and sexual liberation, especially for women. They favor “family ...