Intellectual Bushistsas

One hears a lot about the impact of philosopher Leo Strauss on the neocons who guided our foreign policy (especially during Bush's first term), but Benjamin Ross points out that there are actually several flavors of contemporary neonconservatism -- not just the Straussian flavor, but also the flavor derived from followers of sometime Trotskyite Max Schactman. How these two very different intellectual movements coalesced suggests that what unifies contemporary neoconservatism is more political opportunism and careerism than a coherent set of philosophical beliefs or policy agendae. Judge for yourself.