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Neoconservatism

The Biography of a Movement
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Neoconservatism by Justin Vaïsse offers the first comprehensive history of the neoconservative movement, tracing its evolution through three distinct phases. The book explores the transformation from early liberal intellectuals concerned with domestic matters to the Republican foreign policy operatives of the George W. Bush era. It highlights key figures and organisations often overlooked in political histories, providing insight into the split of liberalism in the 1960s and the complex relationship between party politics and foreign policy.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in American politics, political theory, and contemporary history, especially those seeking to understand the complexities of political movements and foreign policy in the United States.

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Neoconservatism has undergone a transformation that has made a clear identity almost impossible to capture. This title gives neoconservatism its due as a complex movement and predicts it remains an influential force in the American political landscape.

Sometimes we need a non-American to see American politics in a proper perspective. Vaisse 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 In contrast to most of the writing about neoconservatism that has appeared in recent years, Vaisse 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 With a sharp scalpel and brilliant insights, Vaisse 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. -- Zbigniew Brzezinski Vaisse'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, Vaisse 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 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. Vaisse 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

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

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.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674060708

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 18 March 2011

Country: United States

Imprint: The Belknap Press

Contributors:

  • Translated by Arthur Goldhammer

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 376

About the Author

Justin Vaïsse, a French historian of the United States, is Director of Policy Planning at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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