Neoconservatism And Post-Cold War U.S. Foreign Policy

Neoconservatism significantly affected the Reagan Administration's foreign policy in the 1980s. While its political influence suffered a sharp decline after the end of the Cold War, the neoconservatives never stopped their intellectual and political activities. Over the decade after the Cold War, they not only developed a new set of political and strategic ideas but also obtained a great deal of power in political mobilization. By the beginning of the new century, neoconservatism had become a powerful strand of strategic thinking in the United States. In recent years, it has risen to become the most influential force in American foreign and defense affairs. It is widely believed that the Bush Administration's foreign and defense policy has primarily been under the neoconservatives'prevailing influence. The growth of the neoconservatives has been attracting increasing attention of American scholars since the late 1980s. Occasional discussions began to be published by Chinese scholars in the late 1990s, many of which offered keen insights. However, these discussions were usually focused on specific aspects of neoconservatism or its impact on specific problems. No overall study seemed to have been made on the phenomenon, particularly on the whole framework of foreign policy propositions constructed by the neoconservatives since the end of the Cold War and its impact on America's foreign policy. It was in such a context that this project was initiated. Emerging as a social, cultural and political impulse, neoconservatism evolved from a little creek into a strong torrent and finally became a forceful intellectual movement with a profound impact on America's domestic and foreign policy. Ever since the start of the new century, the neoconservatives, with their commitment to preserving the supremacy of the United States in the post-Cold War era, have disturbed the whole world by breaking with the long tradition of American foreign policy. China came close to be taken as one of America's new strategic adversaries due to the neoconservatives'advocacy. It was the 9/11 terrorist attacks that turned America's attention to international terrorism. Although the neoconservatives have fluctuated over its history of development, their vigor seems to have been on the rise rather than on the decline. Such a political force is doubtlessly worth close watch and study for a deep understanding of the underlying motivation of the strategy followed by the sole superpower in the present world. This is therefore an unavoidable research subject for a China that is growing into one of the great powers of the world. Based on the conviction that ideology is bound to have impact on government policy, this thesis starts by an account of the origins and evolution of neoconservatism, describes the strategy architected by the neoconservatives for the United States, discusses the means through which the neoconservatives have managed to affect America's, particularly the Bush Administration's, foreign and defense policy, evaluates the outcomes that have been produced, and tries to look into the future of the neoconservative movement. Specifically, the different sections of the thesis go as follows: Firstly, the thesis gives an account of the evolution of the neoconservatism from the 1930s through the end of the 1980s, which is mainly represented in three shifts. They started as radicals in their early years, soon turned to liberalism and finally drifted further to the Right in the late 1960s. They acted first as observers and commentators of social issues, then as zealous political participants and finally ended up sharing the policymaking in the Reagan Administration, which marked their first successful rise to political power. They also completed their shift of political loyalty from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s. Meanwhile, apart from these shifts, the neoconservatives turned their closest attention from social and cultural issues to foreign and defense issues. Secondly, the thesis gives an overview of the neoconservative strategy formulated after the Cold War, which shows their conviction that the end of the Cold War left behind a unipolar world, with the United States possessing the supreme power. Preserving its status of supremacy, therefore, became America's primary strategic objective, which would require the United States to play a proactive role of global leadership. Such a worldview had to be backed up with a range of specific guiding principles for foreign and defense policy. The neoconservatives believed that the United States must first rely on a strengthened and unrivaled military power. In addition, the possession of power must be paralleled with a strong will to use the power, which would mean that the United States must feel free to use its power even without being supported or authorized by other countries or international institutions or before being attacked by its adversaries. Power can also be used to promote American values such as democracy and free market economy because promotion of American values is perfectly consistent with American national interest. Thirdly, the thesis shows the neoconservatives as enthusiastic activists who havepractically launched an intellectual movement since the 1990s to peddle their ideology and seek political power. The neoconservatives built a closely knit network among themselves, worked in existing think tanks and set up their own, and made the best use of the media that they controlled or infiltrated to disseminate their ideas and advocate their propositions. All these efforts climaxed in the recruitment of a host of neoconservatives into the new Bush Administration, with several of them put into positions of considerable influence on defense and foreign policy. Fourthly, the thesis demonstrates the effects of the neoconservative strategy and movement on the Bush Administration's defense and foreign policy, particularly after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Apart from the neoconservatives'helping hand in defining and cheering the war on terror, their strategic outlook is well reflected in what has become known as the Bush Doctrine, the embodiment of the fundamental guidelines for the administration's defense and foreign policy in the new era started by the war on terror. The neoconservatives are instrumental in pushing America to the war on Iraq. Their efforts in that respect are a good illustration of their capability in employing their rhetorical power, control of the media, operation of think tanks and political advocacy groups, and positions within the government to achieve their political goals. Finally, the thesis concludes the whole discussion with an overall analysis of the weakness and power that has been displayed by the neoconservatives and the movement they have carried on since the end of the Cold War. An evaluation of the performance and accomplishments of neoconservatism as a whole and a look into the possible reasons for the successful and strong revival of the neoconservatives in the new era seem to show that the whole movement has been blessed with impressive power. But an overview of the effects produced by the application of the Bush Doctrine in Iraq seems to expose more unintended consequences than desirable ones, at least up to now. An exploration of the present state of neoconservatism reveals internal inconsistencies as well as favorable external environment. In the foreseeable future, the neoconservative movement may be described as of reduced involvement in policy making but lingering power of influence. This thesis has broken some new ground in the following aspects: 1) When this project was initiated, discussions of neoconservatism and its influence on Bush's foreign policy either took it as a branch of the conservatism or limited to its influence on specific issues. No publication wasavailable on the neoconservatives'overall strategic thinking after the Cold War. In retrospect, while some books have recently been published abroad in this respect, no comprehensive, systematic and deep study has been produced in China yet, although many new articles have been written. What this thesis has accomplished may be equal to make up for the absence of such a work. 2) Most of the relevant discussions in China are devoted to accounts of the history of neoconservatism. More attention has been paid to its specific policy propositions. This thesis, however, explores the means through which the neoconservatives have wielded influence on government policy. This treatment of the subject from a view of policymaking is a new approach to the study of neoconservatism. 3) This thesis has made an attempt in defining neoconservatism as an intellectual movement, which is meant to cast the study of this subject in a new light. Its discussions on the neoconservatives'role in pushing for the war on Iraq and the reasons for the revival of neoconservatism in the post-Cold War era are subjects largely untouched in China.