American Indifference

Since Sunday night PBS has treated viewers to a stunning series of documentary films that examine big themes and ideas that define our post-9/11 world. Last night featured a documentary titled “The Case for War” and the premise was that we would go along with Richard Perle as he travelled from Washington to Kabul to [...]

Neo-Confusion

Further to my partner in thought crime’s excellent post, I would say that the term “neoconservative” has become essentially meaningless in political and intellectual discourse. It is now merely a pejorative, encompassing the unhelpful categories of “hawk” and “dumbass.” I do, however, think there are a few common aspects of thought that unite those who [...]

Not Quite a Canard

“We neoconservatives have been through a startling few years.” With that understatement, Joshua Muravchik begins an open memo to his “fellow neoconservatives,” in the current issue of Foreign Policy.
It is both neoconservatism’s strength and detriment that it is not so much a school of thought as it is an intellectual current. It is a current [...]

The Annals of Patting Yourself on the Back

Perhaps I am being unfair, but is it not a bit unseemly that The Weekly Standard has decided to publish a glowing review of Douglas Murray’s (lackluster, to my mind) paean to neoconservatism’s enduring relevance and vitality?

Kristol’s Pissed, And He Ain’t Gonna Take it No More

A short while back (before the Middle East exploded into low-grade warfare) I mentioned (and here) that one the most fascinating political subplots that will play out in the coming years is how Iraq will affect the influence of neoconservative intellectuals within the GOP. With Baghdad in tatters, the Bush administration’s forward-leaning democratization policy is [...]