Where neoconservatism went wrong

As a political philosophy, neoconservatism is invaluable. Too bad the current crop of neocons has no inclination to take it seriously.

Hawk
(Image credit: (Desiree Navarro/Getty Images))

Lost in all the recriminations surrounding Reihan Salam's recent blockbuster column about why he still considers himself a neocon is any sense of the distinctive strengths and weaknesses of the neoconservative approach to foreign policy. Yes, the neocons have been rightly attacked for their hawkishness, but there are many kinds of hawks. And not all of them analyze international affairs in the specific way that neocons do. If we want to offer a truly cogent assessment of the neocons, we need to train our sights on the tendencies that are unique to their thinking.

Noah Millman offers a useful summary of some of those tendencies. Here's my own way of describing them: Neoconservatives bring to foreign policy thinking a cluster of concepts inherited from the writings of the political philosopher Leo Strauss. And no, despite what Strauss's unhinged and uncomprehending critics like to believe, his influence can't be reduced to some secret teaching about the importance of invading and occupying Middle Eastern nations and justifying the policy with lies.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.