neocon
Tensions became apparent in 1981 when Reagan chose neocon William Bennett instead of a traditionalist to chair the National Endowment for the Humanities. [1]
A neo-conservative (abbreviated as neo-con or neocon) is part of a U.S. based political movement rooted in liberal Cold War anticommunism and a backlash to the social liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s. [2]
In 1980, he married Rachel Decter, daughter of neocon veterans Norman Podhoretz and Midge Decter. [3]
Regular readers of LRC or other right-of-center sites are sure to have seen terms like “neoconservative” and “paleo-libertarian” from time to time. [4]
But unlike either core traditionalists of American conservatism or those with isolationist tendencies, neoconservatives are committed internationalists. [2]
Neoconservatives generally advocate a free-market economy with minimum taxation and government economic regulation; strict limits on government-provided social-welfare programs; and a strong military supported by large defense budgets. [1]
In economics, unlike traditionalist conservatives, neoconservatives are generally comfortable with a welfare state; and, while rhetorically supportive of free markets, they are willing to interfere for overriding social purposes. [5]
In fact, one of the foremost neoconservatives, Norman Podhoretz, wrote an obituary for this distinction several years ago because it just seemed to no longer matter. [6]
After serving as deputy secretary of defense for three years, Mr. Wolfowitz, a key architect of the Iraq war, was chosen in March 2005 by President Bush to be president of the World Bank. [3]
During the presidential campaign Obama refused to meet with American Muslims, and on a fact-finding trip to the Middle East last summer he spent several days in Israel but only 45 minutes with Palestinian leaders. [7]
From 1990 to 1995, he worked as editor-in-chief of Commentary magazine, a neoconservative journal published by the American Jewish Committee. [3]
It originated in the 1960s among conservatives and some liberals who were repelled by or disillusioned with what they viewed as the political and cultural trends of the time, including leftist political radicalism, lack of respect for authority and tradition, and hedonistic and immoral lifestyles. [1]
Someone who believes in traditional morality and capitalism, and the need for a limited government to allow both to flourish. [4]
An intellectual and political movement in favor of political, economic, and social conservatism that arose in opposition to the perceived liberalism of the 1960s: “The neo-conservatism of the 1980s is a replay of the New Conservatism of the 1950s, which was itself a replay of the New Era philosophy of the 1920s” (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.). [...] Unlike most conservatives of earlier generations, neoconservatives maintain that the United States should take an active role in world affairs, though they are generally suspicious of international institutions, such as the United Nations and the World Court, whose authority could intrude upon American sovereignty or limit the country’s freedom to act in its own interests. [1]
Sources:
[1] neoconservatism: Definition from Answers.com
[2] Neo-conservative - SourceWatch
[3] US News / Special: Empire Builders | Christian Science Monitor
[4] Are You a Neocon?
[5] Neoconservatism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[6] So, what is a ‘neocon‘? - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
[7] AIPAC’s Man in the Obama Camp - by Philip Giraldi