Neoconservatism

Emerging in the United States during the 1960s in the form of a Conservative response to “New Left,” the fight for social issues, counterculture, and pacifism (especially as the latter pertained to Vietnam War protests and the foreign policy of the Democratic Party), Neoconservatism was to play a significant role in American politics in the following decades. Neoconservatism generally involves endorsement of interventionist foreign policy to protect democracy and American interests abroad, and efforts to curtail socialism and political radicalism at home. The movement’s influence was greatest during the George W. Bush administration, and has been criticized for inducing United States involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.