Published in Claremont Review of Books After the assassination of his labor Party colleague Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995, Shimon Peres became acting prime minister of Israel. He called for early elections in hopes of gaining a mandate for advancing the peace process and, as initial exit polls indicated, was favored to win the general contest….
Category: History
A Neocon Grows in Brooklyn [MODERN AGE] Can a neoconservative support Trump? Norman Podhoretz did.
Published in Modern Age Neoconservatives have never been especially popular on the right, to say nothing of the left. Since they emerged as a genuine political force in the early 1980s, they have been faulted by traditionalists for underemphasizing the role of morality in domestic affairs, yet denounced by realists and libertarians for overemphasizing the role of…
The Vanity of Bernard-Henri Lévy [NATIONAL INTEREST] BHL's latest tract, "The Genius of Judaism," is a polemic masquerading as intellectual history.
Published in The National Interest Bernard-Henri Lévy has been the recipient of vast quantities of acclaim, a copious dose of scorn and even a handful of projectile pies. This likely would have been the destiny of any semiprominent ex-Marxist French intellectual who openly (and practically unilaterally) turned against the European Left, calling it out for its…
Lest We Forget [WEEKLY STANDARD] It's time to consider the merit of immoral memorials.
Published in The Weekly Standard Sherrod Brown was one of nine senators who addressed a luncheon on May 25 celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month. He spent the majority of his time at the podium, not surprisingly and not unlike most of his colleagues, extolling the American Jewish community for its contributions to the civil rights movement…
The Real Irving Kristol [NATIONAL INTEREST] Contrary to popular belief, the godfather of neoconservatism was a consistent adherent of realpolitik in international affairs.
Published in The National Interest In 1990, the publisher of The National Interest wrote an essay to mark the fifth anniversary of the magazine. It was called “Defining Our National Interest.” In it, he asked, “But what about the moral dimension of American foreign policy? It has always been there and, since we are an…
Prophet of Hope [NATIONAL AFFAIRS] Few public intellectuals have shaped America's self-understanding as profoundly as Ben Wattenberg.
Published in National Affairs In Washington, “neoconservative” is fired off as a pejorative so frequently and haphazardly that even the wariest of hawks have been wounded by its stigma. That is why it is so ironic that the Washingtonian who has most unabashedly championed the ideology remains virtually unscathed. “I am a paleoliberal, a supply-side infrastructuralist,…
Book Review: “Anti-Judaism,” by David Nirenberg [KEY REPORTER] The presence of Jews was rarely needed for non-Jews to fixate on Judaism.
Published on The Key Reporter Fear that Judaism was usurping culture reached an unprecedented height during the Renaissance, a period in which Jews were essentially absent from Western Europe. The revolutionary legislators of the doomed National Assembly obsessively deliberated over the citizenship status of Jews, who were virtually nonexistent in late-18th century France. And of…
Crescent Over the Thames [WAR ON THE ROCKS] British Muslim radicalization truly began during the Bosnian War.
Published on War on the Rocks Trafalgar Square, central London. More than 3,000 people are in attendance at the “Rally for Islam.” A notorious firebrand near Nelson’s Column calls for jihad against Britain. Thunderous cheers roll through the crowd and echo ominously toward Whitehall. Placards demand the assassination of the British prime minster and other…
The British Connection [NRO] The willingness of British Muslims to wage jihad abroad began in earnest at least 20 years ago.
Published on National Review Online For many, the British accent of the Islamist who executed American journalist James Foley was almost as shocking as the barbaric murder itself. In the days that follow, critics of American foreign policy will assert that the Islamic State’s audacious act was merely a symptom of “blowback,” the unintended consequence…
The Brooklyn Burkeans [NATIONAL AFFAIRS] The history of neoconservatism involves decades of intellectual evolution beginning well before the heady 1960s.
Published in National Affairs The meaning, legacy, and future of neoconservatism are often hotly contested subjects. But the history of neoconservatism — particularly its early history — has long been deemed largely settled territory. According to the prevailing narrative, members of the first generation of neoconservatives — perhaps the most famous among them being Irving…