Neoconservatism has undergone a transformation that has made a clear identity almost impossible to capture. The Republican foreign policy operatives of the George W. Bush era seem far removed from the early liberal intellectuals who focused on domestic issues. Justin Vaïsse offers the first comprehensive history of neoconservatism, exploring the connections between a changing and multifaceted school of thought, a loose network of thinkers and activists, and American political life in turbulent times.
In an insightful portrait of the neoconservatives and their impact on public life, Vaïsse frames the movement in three distinct ages: the New York intellectuals who reacted against the 1960s leftists; the “Scoop Jackson Democrats,” who tried to preserve a mix of hawkish anticommunism abroad and social progress at home but failed to recapture the soul of the Democratic Party; and the “Neocons” of the 1990s and 2000s, who are no longer either liberals or Democrats. He covers neglected figures of this history such as Pat Moynihan, Eugene Rostow, Lane Kirkland, and Bayard Rustin, and offers new historical insight into two largely overlooked organizations, the Coalition for a Democratic Majority and the Committee on the Present Danger. He illuminates core developments, including the split of liberalism in the 1960s, and the shifting relationship between partisan affiliation and foreign policy positions.
Vaïsse gives neoconservatism its due as a complex movement and predicts it will remain an influential force in the American political landscape.
Justin Vaïsse, a French historian of the United States, is Director of Policy Planning at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Table of Contents
Abbreviations vii
Introduction: The Three Ages of Neoconservatism 1
1 Incubation: From the Cold War to the Collapse of Liberalism 21
2 The First Age: Liberal Intellectuals in Dissent 50
3 The Second Age: Cold War Democrats in Dissent 81
4 Divergence: Inventing a Neoconservative Foreign Policy 110
5 Nuclear Alarm: The Committee on the Present Danger 149
6 Migration to Power: Joining the Reagan Camp 180
7 The Third Age: National Greatness Conservatives 220
Epilogue: Interpreting Neoconservatism 271
Appendix: The Three Ages of Neoconservatism 283
Notes 289
Acknowledgments 333
Index 337
What People are Saying About This
E. J. Dionne
It took Tocqueville to explain Jacksonian America to Americans, so it should not surprise us that another shrewd French student of the United States has written one of the most careful, thoughtful, and engaging books on neoconservatism. Vaïsse tells the movement's story with grace and sheds great light on the importance of its roots in the Democratic Party, its outsized influence on American foreign policy, and the sometimes subtle but important differences among its loyalists and fellow travelers. — E. J. Dionne, Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics and Souled Out
James Mann
Vaïsse's book should stand as the definitive history of the neoconservative movement. His detailed account traces the movement's origins, its growth and changes, its uneasy relationship with first the Democratic and then the Republican Party. The tone is dispassionate and analytical; at the same time, Vaïsse tells a good, readable story, fleshed out with people and anecdotes. This is an outstanding work.
— James Mann, author of Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet
Gary Schmitt
In contrast to most of the writing about neoconservatism that has appeared in recent years, Vaïsse has tackled the difficult topic in a serious and balanced way. One doesn't have to agree with everything in his book to know that it will set a standard by which other studies will be judged. — Gary Schmitt, American Enterprise Institute, and former director, Project for the New American Century
Francis Fukuyama
Sometimes we need a non-American to see American politics in a proper perspective. Vaïsse offers one of the most comprehensive and balanced studies of the history of neoconservatism yet to appear.
— Francis Fukuyama, author of America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy
Zbigniew Brzezinski
With a sharp scalpel and brilliant insights, Vaïsse offers his readers everything they need to know to make their own judgments about neoconservatism, a movement that threatens America's national interests by advocating policies that exacerbate the very threats it proclaims to be opposing.
