neoconservative
noun
neo·con·ser·va·tive
ˌnē-ō-kən-ˈsər-və-tiv
plural neoconservatives
1
: a former U.S. liberal espousing political conservatism and social conservatism
"They" are neoconservatives, the movement of former liberals who moved sharply rightward in the '60s and '70s …—Eric Fettman
The word "neoconservative" originally referred to former liberals and leftists who were dismayed by the countercultural movements of the 1960s and the Great Society, and adopted conservative views, for example, against government welfare programs, and in favor of interventionist foreign policies.—Elizabeth Drew
The original neoconservatives, then, were truly new conservatives …—Paul Krause
called also neocon
2
: a U.S. conservative who calls for the assertive promotion of democracy and national interest in international affairs including through military means
… the dreams of neoconservatives who sought to remake the world in America's image.—William Astore
While definitions vary, "neoconservative" generally refers to formerly moderate policy advocates who favor a hawkish and assertive foreign policy to implant democracy and American values abroad.—Paul Richter
Liberal internationalists count on globalization, neoconservatives on democratization to get us to the sunny uplands of international harmony.—Charles Krauthammer
called also neocon
neoconservatism
noun
Neoconservatism, whatever its complex roots, has become indelibly associated with concepts like coercive regime change, unilateralism and American hegemony. What is needed now are new ideas, neither neoconservative nor realist, for how America is to relate to the rest of the world—ideas that retain the neoconservative belief in the universality of human rights, but without its illusions about the efficacy of American power and hegemony to bring these ends about.
—Francis Fukayama
neoconservative
adjective
neoconservative ideology
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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