Neokonservatismen och amerikansk utrikespolitik

Den som söker efter mer substans i ämnet vad/vilka som styr USA:s utrikespolitik kan med fördel läsa artikeln Neoconservatives and the American Mainstream. I den läser vi bland annat:

Although there are notable exceptions, many European commentators and much of the public are resorting to conspiratorial theories to explain the direction of U.S. foreign policy and somehow overlook the fact that American public opinion runs in favor of the president’s handling of foreign affairs. Perhaps more important, however, they overlook the deep historical roots of the current direction of American foreign policy. It is not driven by a ”neocon cabal.” Rather, it is that certain individuals associated with the neoconservative label have been particularly articulate in expressing a set of policies that flow from two ideas that resonate deeply in American public opinion. The first is a belief that the United States has a responsibility to spread its vision of individual liberty. The second is that the primary and perhaps exclusive task of the federal government is to protect its citizens from external threats. Whatever the actual causes of U.S. action in any particular instance, those principles loom large in the public debate and shape how and when the United States becomes involved in other countries’ affairs.
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At a very basic level, much of Europe fails to appreciate the seriousness of the core principles animating American foreign policy and how deeply they affect popular opinion. Where Europe sees imperialism, America sees the use of power for moral purposes. Where Europe asks by what right America imposes its values, America sees those values as universal and moral absolutes. Where Europe sees hypocrisy, America sees a balance between competing principles.