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The Neoconservative War on Modernity: the Bush Doctrine and Its Resistance to Legitimation

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The Neoconservative War on Modernity: the Bush Doctrine and Its Resistance to Legitimation University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2009 The neoconservative war on modernity: The uB sh Doctrine and its resistance to legitimation Ben Luongo University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Luongo, Ben, "The neoconservative war on modernity: The ushB Doctrine and its resistance to legitimation" (2009). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2074 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Neoconservative War on Modernity: The Bush Doctrine and its Resistance to Legitimation by Ben Luongo A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Government & International Affairs College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Steven Roach, Ph.D. Michael Gibbons, Ph.D. Mark Amen, Ph.D. Date of Approval: March 8, 2009 Keywords: Relativism, Leo Strauss, Jurgen Habermas, George W. Bush, United Nations © Copyright 2009, Ben Luongo Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Steven Roach, Dr. Michael Gibbons, and Dr. Mark Amen for their support with this thesis. In particular, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Dr. Roach, who has encouraged me to pursue my interests and challenged me at the same time. You are a true mentor and I thank you for your inspiration. Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Problem/Argument ...................................................................................................1 Literature Review.....................................................................................................3 Legitimacy ...................................................................................................3 Straussianism ...............................................................................................4 Neoconservatism ..........................................................................................5 Analytical Framework/Objectives ...........................................................................6 Neoconservatism versus Legitimacy: The Bush Administration and the UN .....................................................................................................6 Moral Authority versus Relativism: Neoconservatism and the Fear of Relativism ...........................................................................................6 Moral Authority Undermining the Governing Principles of International Order ..................................................................................7 Structure ...................................................................................................................7 Chapter 1: Legitimation .......................................................................................................9 Introduction ..............................................................................................................9 The Relevance of the Enlightenment .......................................................................9 Habermasian Legitimacy .......................................................................................13 Communicative Rationality .......................................................................13 Deliberative Legitimacy .............................................................................16 The Legal Argument for War and Resisting Legitimation ....................................18 Self-Defense and the ‘Truth’ Dimension of Validity ................................20 Self-Defense and the ‘Truthfulness’ Dimension of Validity .....................21 Breach of UN Resolution and the ‘Rightness’ Dimension of Validity ......................................................................................................24 Chapter 2: Leo Strauss .......................................................................................................27 Introduction ............................................................................................................27 The Ancient and Modern Dichotomy ....................................................................28 The Crisis of Modernity .........................................................................................30 Modernity and American Liberalism .....................................................................33 Platonic Elitism and Deception through Culture ...................................................35 Strauss on Schmitt: the Concept of the Political ....................................................36 Conclusion .............................................................................................................41 Chapter 3: Linking Neoconservatism to Strauss ................................................................43 Introduction ............................................................................................................43 The Culture Wars ...................................................................................................44 Hostility towards Liberalism – Opposition to Counterculture ...................45 i Platonic Elitism – Affirmation of Religious/Cultural Orthodoxy ..............51 The Cold War .........................................................................................................54 Hostilities towards Liberalism – Aversion to Detente ...............................54 Platonic Elitism – Affirmation of the Political ..........................................58 Conclusion .............................................................................................................66 Chapter 4: The Bush Doctrine ...........................................................................................67 Introduction ............................................................................................................67 The Pillars of the Bush Doctrine ............................................................................68 Democratization .........................................................................................68 Militaristic Primacy ...................................................................................70 Preemption .................................................................................................71 Unilateralism ..............................................................................................72 Relating the Bush Doctrine to Neoconservatism ...................................................73 Why Neoconservatism Resists Legitimation .........................................................76 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................81 ii The Neoconservative War on Modernity: The Bush Doctrine and its Resistance to Legitimation Ben Luongo ABSTRACT The Bush Doctrine represents a paradigm shift in international security policy. Never had a foreign policy demonstrated such will through unilateralism, preemptive militarism, and a sense of exceptionalism. I argue that this shift in policy resists modern international order in an attempt to reestablish ancient modes of power and control. The international system maintains order through rules and institutions which are perceived to be legitimate because they have the consent of the governed. An example of this would be the UN, where member states engage in a democratic deliberation geared towards reaching understanding and consensus. However, order breaks down when a member state fails to recognize the legitimacy of a rule or institution. This was the case for the Bush Doctrine when the U.S. decided to invade Iraq without a UN resolution. The Bush Doctrine is the embodiment of neoconservatism, an intellectual movement influenced by the thoughts of Leo Strauss. What neoconservatism has inherited from Strauss was a fear of relativism. Strauss’s critique of modernity holds that liberal society fosters moral relativism which, in turn, destroys the moral fabric of society. Strauss calls for a revival of antiquity, more specifically a Platonic design of society, where elites rule through the use of myths which provide society with moral truth and national purpose. Neoconservatism has projected Strauss’s war on modernity onto the international level. The Bush Doctrine assumes its core democratic values to be universal and thus views consensus building as unnecessary. Rather, deliberating on ‘right’ may enlighten us to the conventional nature of morality. Therefore, neoconservatism works to reestablish ancient modes of control through the use of moral absolutes, where the iii practice of these values, consequentially, resists international order governed by liberal principles. As a result, neoconservative policies disrupt international order and isolate the U.S. from the modern world. iv Introduction Problem/Argument Global order is maintained principally
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