Abstract
In the aftermath of 9/11, three caricatures of the neoconservativeled network were presented. The first—put forward partly by defensive conservatives and neoconservatives and partly by uninformed critics— depicted the neoconservatives as a “cabal,” implying that they had plotted the Bush foreign policy surreptitiously and were the hidden hand behind the “war on terror.” For some, the fact that neoconservatism as a political phenomenon had received comparatively little media attention in the nineties meant that it seemed like it had come from nowhere when the spotlight shone on the neocons after 9/11. For others, invoking the “cabal” caricature facilitated the deflection of criticism. Joshua Muravchik, David Brooks, a neoconservative New York Time. columnist, and Max Boot, a neoconservative Wall Street Journal editor, all claimed that their critics were reliant on depicting them as a “cabal” or “conspiracy,” with Brooks even claiming they were motivated by anti-Semitism; claims that they then proceeded to refute with ease. However, these loaded terms were not the words of critics but the neocons’ own words. There were no specific examples cited and rarely any names mentioned. Brooks was even forced to retract his allegations of anti-Semitism and issue an apology.1
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Notes
Jacob Heilbrun, “The Neoconservative Journey,” in Peter Berkowitz (ed.), Varieties of Conservatism in Americ. (Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, CA, 2004): 105, 107, 108.
Shadia B. Drury, The Political Ideas of Leo Straus. (Palgrave Macmillan, New York/Basingstoke, 2005): ix-lix.
See Richard King, “Intellectuals and the State: The Case of the Straussians,” Comparative American Studies. Vol. 4, No. 4, December 2006: 395–408;
Norton, Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire. 5–20 and 181–200; Stephen Lenzner and William Kristol, “What Was Leo Strauss Up To?” The Public Interes., No. 153, Fall 2003: 19–39;
Gary J. Schmitt and Abram N. Shulsky, “Leo Strauss and the World of Intelligence (By Which We Do Not Mean Nous),” in Kenneth L. Murley and John A. Deutsch (eds.), Leo Strauss, the Straussians and the American Regim. (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, MD, 1999): 407–12.
Quoted in Jon Meacham, “The GOP’s Master Strategist—William Kristol,” Washington Monthly. September 1994, Vol. 26, No. 9: 32–39.
Maria Ryan, “Neoconservatism and the American Public: Was 9/11 a ‘Hegemonic Moment’?” in Helen Laville and Andrew Johnstone (eds.), The U.S. Public and American Foreign Polic. (Routledge, London, 2010).
Quoted in John J. Miller, A Gift of Freedom: How the Olin Foundation Changed Americ. (Encounter Books, San Francisco, 2006): 4, 56–57.
David Brock, Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservativ. (Three Rivers Press, New York, 2002): 87.
On the practical importance of institutional recuperation of intellectuals, see Hugh Wilford, The New York Intellectuals: From Vanguard to Institutio. (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1995): Introduction and Epilogue.
In addition to the books already cited, see Muravchik, The Imperative of American Leadership. Michael Ledeen, Freedom Betrayed: How America Led a Global Democratic Revolution, Won the Cold War and Walked Awa. (AEI Press, Washington, D.C., 1996).
Stefan Halper and Jonathon Clarke, America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Orde. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2004): 118–19.
William Kristol, “A Conservative Looks at Liberalism,” Commentar., Vol. 96, No. 3, September 1993: 33–36.
David Frum, The Right Man: An Inside Account of the Surprise Presidency of George W. Bus. (Weidenfeld&Nicolson, London, 2003): 224–45.
Ivo H. Daalder, Getting to Dayton: The Making of America’s Bosnia Polic. (Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 2000): 81–162.
Krauthammer, “Democratic Realism” Lecture. See also Charles Krauthammer, “The Neoconservative Convergence,” Commentary. July–August 2005, Vol. 20, No. 1: 21–26.
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© 2010 Maria Ryan
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Ryan, M. (2010). The Neoconservative-Led Network. In: Neoconservatism and the New American Century. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230113961_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230113961_4
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