Searching for the justification of American hawks' policy

• Authors: du Vall Marta
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The subject of the paper are the events and that provide the source of popularity of the neoconservative thought at the threshold of the 21st century. The events of 11th September 2001 gave the American neoconservatives an opportunity to take over full control over the short-term political assumptions of the federal government. It was the first step in the execution of the neoconservatives’ broader plan concerning foreign policy and proving the dominant position of America in the contemporary geopolitical system. The author indicates that the roots of today’s neoconservatives’ ideas are to be sought in the early 1990s. With the end of the cold war, the neoconservatives were forced to change their concept of foreign policy. A question of the future objective that the US should try to attain as an actor on the international stage arose. One of the results of the following debate was a split in the Republican Party. One faction were the supporters of the ‘enlightened nationalism’ advocating foreign policy based on the principle of non-intervention. The other were primarily the neoconservatives who did not want a return to the past but desired an across-the-board campaign for spreading democracy all over the world. The result of these actions was to be the broadening of the area of freedom and liberty. Briefly speaking, the neoconservatives believed that the post-cold-war foreign policy should be based on the assumption that the security of the United States keeps declining parallel to the shrinking of the area of democracy, and democracy and individual liberties are universal, therefore supporting them in the world is justifiable. The neoconservatives believed that world security hinges on US readiness to assume the role of the leader. They favoured the view put forth by Charles Krauthammer stating that the United States is the world’s only country to possess the military, diplomatic, political, and economic advantages that let it assume the role of the decisive player in any conflict, anywhere in the world. It seems that the contemporary imperialism-tainted policy is a necessary consequence of assuming the neoconservative beliefs in foreign policy. The power of the empire became the foundation for US security. In the consolidated and enlightened leadership of America, the neoconservatives see the solution that may help to eliminate the sense of a threat, encourage increased world security, and build better conditions for the development of the area of freedom and democracy.

• Publisher: Krakowska Akademia im. Andrzeja Frycza Modrzewskiego
• Journal: Krakowskie Studia Międzynarodowe
• Year: 2008
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 269-278

Contributors

author

du Vall Marta

• Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University