Neoconservatism: An Obituary for an Idea

Thompson (political science, Clemson U.), who is joined by Yaron Brook (Ayn Rand Institute), outline the core philosophical principles of neoconservatism, presenting it as a comprehensive and integrated political philosophy with its own system of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics. Aiming to show the threat posed to the US by neoconservatism, they describe how neoconservative intellectuals and policy strategists came to define and dominate the political Right in the last half of the twentieth century, their philosophy of governance, theory of statesmanship, call for a conservative welfare state, feelings about capitalism, and foreign and domestic policy, as well as the intellectual relationship between political philosopher Leo Strauss and contemporary neoconservatives and how his ideas have been applied, parallels between neoconservatism and specific authoritarian political theories in the 1920s and 1930s, and how it contrasts with America's founding principles. They do not look at the philosophy from a historical or sociological perspective, or its different factions or personalities. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)