The Ex-Neo

IN the summer of 2004, in a widely debated article in The National Interest, Francis Fukuyama – one of America’s foremost political thinkers – publicly broke with the Bush administration and neoconservatism over the Iraq War. Much of the interest in his current book, America at the Crossroads, is centered on this controversy. The book’s real significance, however, lies not in a rehash of Fukuyama’s past pronouncements on the Iraq War, but in his prescriptions for the future – the creation of new and extra-constitutional institutions of global governance.

After beginning with a brief overview of his main arguments, Fukuyama reviews the history of neoconservatism: Alcove 1 at CCNY, Trotskyism, liberal anti-Communism, The Public Interest and “unintended consequences,” Commentary and the Cold War, Leo Strauss and the importance of “regime,” and the influence of nuclear strategist Albert Wohlstetter. Some may quibble that Fukuyama uses the Stalinist word “Trotskyite” instead of “Trotskyist,” or mischaracterizes the division between Harry Jaffa (“John Philip Sousa”) Straussians and Allan Bloom (“Wagnerian”) Straussians. But on balance this section is very nicely written: a clear guide for beginners, including mainstream journalists.

About the Author

John Fonte

John Fonte is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for American Common Culture at the Hudson Institute.

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IN the summer of 2004, in a widely debated article in The National Interest, Francis Fukuyama – one of America’s foremost political thinkers – publicly broke with the Bush administration and neoconservatism over the Iraq War. Much of the interest in his current book, America at the Crossroads, is centered on this controversy. The book’s real significance, however, lies not in a rehash of Fukuyama’s past pronouncements on the Iraq War, but in his prescriptions for the future – the creation of new and extra-constitutional institutions of global governance.

After beginning with a brief overview of his main arguments, Fukuyama reviews the history of neoconservatism: Alcove 1 at CCNY, Trotskyism, liberal anti-Communism, The Public Interest and “unintended consequences,” Commentary and the Cold War, Leo Strauss and the importance of “regime,” and the influence of nuclear strategist Albert Wohlstetter. Some may quibble that Fukuyama uses the Stalinist word “Trotskyite” instead of “Trotskyist,” or mischaracterizes the division between Harry Jaffa (“John Philip Sousa”) Straussians and Allan Bloom (“Wagnerian”) Straussians. But on balance this section is very nicely written: a clear guide for beginners, including mainstream journalists.