My must read of the day is "IrvingKristol.org." It’s a new website and one I think everyone should visit.
Irving Kristol is considered the "godfather" of neoconservatism, and he’s one of my favorite intellectual thinkers. Initially my fascination came because I deeply identified with the notion of a "liberal mugged by reality." It continued because I simply thought he was smart.
Kristol is a phenomenal writer. His essays tend to read like a story and you end them not wanting to regurgitate his line of argument, but thinking about a new way to form your own.
When I first moved to D.C. I was on a date and was asked if I could have dinner with three people, dead or alive, who would they be. First of all, this is a terrible first date question. Secondly, if we’re going to play this game I want to name at least five people. Three isn’t a dinner party, and if I’m going to leave my house or get out of pajamas, I’d like to do it right. The first person I said was Irving Kristol. My date’s eyebrows immediately shot up.
I quickly realized he didn’t actually know what a "neocon" was. It was a dirty word in their mind, but one based on a parochial, and often inaccurate, understanding.
For this reason, I’m always interested to hear how people define "neoconservatives." A Google search of the term turns up a full page of results where people who despise "neocons" define what they are. The first piece of work by someone who actually calls himself a neoconservative doesn’t turn up until the second page.
People like to define neoconservative by its perceived foreign policy stance, but I think the tendency is a lazy one.
Is foreign policy a priority of neoconservatives? Yes, but there’s much more to it than that. Whether you agree with it or not, it’s a school of thought that is worth studying properly. The best way to do that is by reading the source, in this case, Irving Kristol.
A good start is his essay entitled "What is a ‘Neoconservative,’" in The Neoconservative Persuasion (it’s not even three pages long, and it’s so straightforward the description uses a numerical list) or "My Cold War," which you can read on the new website.
If you’re interested in politics, or just enjoy learning, Irving Kristol should be on the top of your reading list.