Neoconservatism and American foreign policy

Abstract

The United States is universally recognised as the most powerful polity in the current global state system, and the same states that comprise the remainder of the international community are also intimately connected to it. Thus, an exploration of the factors and ideas influencing current American foreign policy formulation is essential. Uniquely among these ideas, neoconservatism is perceived to have become inseparable from the ideology which influences the current U.S Administration, and it has, as a result, commanded a wide berth of both domestic and international attention, and criticism. This thesis' intended purpose is to explore the nature of neoconservatism and to compare the province it allows for foreign policy formulation to those inhabited during previous times in American history. The factors that prevent the formulation of a coherent foreign policy in general, and the dominance of neoconservatism in particular, will be discussed, in addition to an analysis of if and where it is present in current policy, and an examination of the prospects for its endurance during the remainder of the George W. Bush presidency and afterwards.