Iraq and the neoconservatives
This morning we continue with our previews of the new (Summer) issue of the Claremont Review of Books, which is hot off the press. The CRB is the flagship publication of the Claremont Institute and is my favorite magazine. The magazine has collected testimonials from a who's who of stars in the conservative constellation including the late, great Milton Friedman:
“The Claremont Review of Books is full of splendid essays and reviews—well-written, based on deep scholarly knowledge, raising issues of lasting importance. I read it cover to cover, which takes some time, because there’s a lot of thought-provoking content.”Subscriptions to the CRB are only $19.95 a year; subscribe here.-- Michael Barone
“Each issue of the Claremont Review of Books covers an extraordinary wide range of books, each well and thoughtfully reviewed and is introduced by a gem of a comment by its literate editor, Charles R. Kesler. I recommend it highly.”--Milton Friedman
“A life in journalism, and in Washington, has taught me three things. First, not only do ideas have consequences, only ideas have large and lasting consequences. Second, books are still the primary carriers of ideas. Third, the Claremont Review of Books offers invaluable reflections on the most thoughtful books about politics.”
--George F. Will
“In my judgment, the Claremont Review of Books is one of the best edited and best written magazines of any kind in America, and an invaluable center of conservative thought on a rich and varied range of subjects to the discussion of which it unfailingly brings to bear the highest order of critical intelligence.”
--Norman Podhoretz
"The CRB—or what my wife calls “the big, smart magazine”—is one of the best and most intelligent things to happen to the conservative movement. It's good and smart for America, too."--William J. Bennett
“The Claremont Review of Books is an indispensable publication. Every issue is full of original perspectives on the big questions to the small corners of life that illuminate them. If like me you start reading late in the evening, you may lose sleep but you'll gain an awful lot.”--Mark Steyn
Charles Kesler is editor of the CRB and professor of government at Claremont-McKenna College. He has long criticized elements of the Bush Doctrine, especially the rhetoric supporting our efforts to implant democracy in Iraq. In "Iraq and the neoconservatives," Professor Kesler devotes an extended essay to his critique of the Bush Doctrine. While supportive of the Bush administration's war against the anti-American jihadists, Professor Kesler draws the line at the administration's and the neoconservatives' democracy strategy. According to Professor Kesler, the neoconservatives overreached in turning a punitive and preventive war against Saddam Hussein into a war for Iraqi democracy: liberation was one thing, democratization quite another.
The essay provides a new, critical look at the origins and logic of the Bush Doctrine, distinguishing between President Bush's belief in democracy as a historical and even providential solution to the problem of evil in the world, and the neocons' much more modest claims for democracy as a regime within reach of almost every nation in the world, including the inveterate despotisms of the Middle East.
Along the way, the essay seeks to demonstrate how little, and how much, the foreign policies of the first generation of neoconservatives (think Irving Kristol) and the second (Bill Kristol) have in common. The argument has important implications for the future, too. Professor Kesler suggests that Republican candidates in 2008 should distance themselves from the Bush Doctrine's excesses without abandoning the crucial fight against terrorism.
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