Changes

Historically, neoconservatives supported a militant [[anticommunism]] (Can the Neocons Get Their Groove Back? [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701474_pf.html], tolerated more [[social welfare]] spending than was sometimes acceptable to [[libertarian]]s and mainstream [[conservatism|conservatives]], and sympathized with a non-traditional foreign policy agenda that was less deferential to traditional conceptions of diplomacy and international law and less inclined to compromise principles, even if that meant [[unilateralism|unilateral]] action.  

Historically, neoconservatives supported a militant [[anticommunism]] (Can the Neocons Get Their Groove Back? [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701474_pf.html], tolerated more [[social welfare]] spending than was sometimes acceptable to [[libertarian]]s and mainstream [[conservatism|conservatives]], and sympathized with a non-traditional foreign policy agenda that was less deferential to traditional conceptions of diplomacy and international law and less inclined to compromise principles, even if that meant [[unilateralism|unilateral]] action.  

The movement began to focus on such foreign issues in the mid-1970s {{Fact|date=February 2007}}. However, it first crystallized in the late 1960s as an effort to combat the radical cultural changes taking place within the United States. Irving Kristol wrote: "If there is any one thing that neoconservatives are unanimous about, it is their dislike of the [[counterculture]]." (Kristol, “What Is a Neoconservative?” 87) Norman Podhoretz agreed: "Revulsion against the counterculture accounted for more converts to neoconservatism than any other single factor." (Podhoretz, 275.) [[Ira Chernus]], a professor at the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]], argues that the deepest root of the neoconservative movement is its fear that the counterculture would undermine the authority of traditional values and moral norms. Because neoconservatives believe that human nature is innately selfish, they believe that a society with no commonly accepted values based on religion or ancient tradition will end up in a [[war of all against all]]. They also believe that the most important social value is strength, especially the strength to control natural impulses. The only alternative, they assume, is weakness that will let impulses run riot and lead to social chaos. (Chernus, chapter 1)

The movement began to focus on such foreign issues in the mid-1970s. However, it first crystallized in the late 1960s as an effort to combat the radical cultural changes taking place within the United States. Irving Kristol wrote: "If there is any one thing that neoconservatives are unanimous about, it is their dislike of the [[counterculture]]." (Kristol, “What Is a Neoconservative?” 87) Norman Podhoretz agreed: "Revulsion against the counterculture accounted for more converts to neoconservatism than any other single factor." (Podhoretz, 275.) [[Ira Chernus]], a professor at the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]], argues that the deepest root of the neoconservative movement is its fear that the counterculture would undermine the authority of traditional values and moral norms. Because neoconservatives believe that human nature is innately selfish, they believe that a society with no commonly accepted values based on religion or ancient tradition will end up in a [[war of all against all]]. They also believe that the most important social value is strength, especially the strength to control natural impulses. The only alternative, they assume, is weakness that will let impulses run riot and lead to social chaos. (Chernus, chapter 1)

According to [[Peter Steinfels]], a historian of the movement, the neoconservatives' "emphasis on foreign affairs emerged after the [[New Left]] and the counterculture had dissolved as convincing foils for neoconservatism... The essential source of their anxiety is not military or geopolitical or to be found overseas at all; it is domestic and cultural and ideological." (Steinfels, 69.) Neoconservative foreign policy parallels their domestic policy. They insist that the U.S. military must be strong enough to control the world, or else the world will descend into chaos.  

According to [[Peter Steinfels]], a historian of the movement, the neoconservatives' "emphasis on foreign affairs emerged after the [[New Left]] and the counterculture had dissolved as convincing foils for neoconservatism... The essential source of their anxiety is not military or geopolitical or to be found overseas at all; it is domestic and cultural and ideological." (Steinfels, 69.) Neoconservative foreign policy parallels their domestic policy. They insist that the U.S. military must be strong enough to control the world, or else the world will descend into chaos.