The American Neo-conservatives: Who They Are, Their History, and Their Global Impact
October 10, 2020 in News by RBN Staff
source: stateofthenation.co
Sriyan de Silva
Contents
Defining Characteristics
A Historical Perspective of the Neo-Conservative Movement and Its Agenda
Global Impact of Neo-Conservatism and the Ravages of War
An Overall Conclusion
Defining Characteristics
In discussing the Neo-Conservative movement [the adherents of which are commonly referred to as ‘Neo-cons’, which term will be used throughout this Paper to refer to them], it is useful and even necessary to identify its defining characteristics. This movement might also be referred to as a set of beliefs. Many believe that the Neo-cons have done untold damage to other countries and also to the US itself, bringing upon it the reputation of a country that destabilizes other countries not only through war, but by other means as well. These critics would perhaps prefer to describe the movement as one which, at its heart, has a destructive agenda inimical to the interests of the majority of the world’s population. A description of this movement and an identification of its objectives are especially necessary because as we will see in the next section, in course of time, changes have occurred in the focus and main beliefs among essentially three generations of Neo-cons. Unless otherwise stated, the focus of this Section will be on the beliefs and objectives of the second and third [the last including the current] generations of Neo-cons.
Anthropologist and author Wade Davis in an article titled Unravelling of America” [August 2020] has provided the following chilling facts regarding the USA’s propensity to promote wars and destabilize countries. The quotation below is explicable only by reference to the subject matter of my essay which makes clear why the USA has been persistently engaged I military adventures. Davis states:
The United States, virtually a demilitarized nation on the eve of the Second World War, never stood down in the wake of victory. To this day, American troops are deployed in 150 countries. Since the 1970s, China has not once gone to war; the US has not spent a day at peace. President Jimmy Carter recently noted that that in its 242 year history, America has enjoyed only 16 years of peace, making it, as he wrote, ‘the most war-like nation in the history of the world’. Since 2001, the US has spent over $6 trillion on military operations and war, money that might have been invested in the infrastructure at home. China, meanwhile, built its nation pouring more cement every three years than America did in the entire twentieth century.”
