A Humbled Neocon

In yesterday's NYT Magazine, Francis 'It's the End of History, and I Feel Fine' Fukuyama presents an interesting argument he titles, 'After Neoconservatism.' He sees in the Bush Administration's 2005 actions clear signs that neoconservatism is in retreat, crippled by its combination of idealism and militarism.

Rather than cede the stage to cynical Kissengerian realism, Fukuyama attempts to construct a foreign policy strategy informed by neoconservatism's foundations, but divorced from its disastrous implementation by the Bush White House. As he puts it, 'What is needed now are new ideas, neither neoconservative nor realist, for how America is to relate to the rest of the world — ideas that retain the neoconservative belief in the universality of human rights, but without its illusions about the efficacy of American power and hegemony to bring these ends about.'

The whole article is well-worth reading. Fukuyama brings a lifetime of scholarship and intellectual engagement with neoconservatism's founders to the table. At the same time he comes across as very fair minded and willing to engage in self-criticism, which immediately disqualifies him from affiliation with the Bush Bunch.

He's so fair minded, in fact, that the Grillmaster could have sworn his article could just as easily have been called After Liberalism. He affirms the need for promoting universal human rights and democracy. He calls policy-makers out for concentrating on military power while ignoring the cultural, economic, and moral 'soft power' that hegemons can bring to bear on the world. He wants to promote robust international organizations and alliances that can grant legitimacy to international action. In this his model is the NATO bombing of Kosovo, hardly what one would traditionally think of as a neo-con triumph.

You'll buy his argument depending on how you view neo-cons to begin with. If you think neoconservatism is primarily characterized by a dedication to human freedom, you're more likely to jump on board, and hope that your ideology hasn't been hopelessly discredited by King George. If you're like the Grillmaster, you'll remain highly suspicious; there's a willingness to arrogantly and wrecklessly use force that seems to be in the water the neocons drink. I don't call into question the genuineness of Dr. Fukuyama, just of those across the river from me in the White House who might have read his article yesterday.