Right cross: after Iraq, the conservative infighting begins.

• Author: Heilbrunn, Jacob
• Position: On Political Books - Book Review

America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order By Stefan Halper & Jonathan Clarke Simon & Schuster, $26.00

One of the more intriguing developments in recent months has been the growth of apprehension about neoconservative doctrine among that faction's traditional allies. Inveterate isolationists such as Patrick J. Buchanan, editor of The American Conservative, which is dedicated in part to decrying neoconservative influence, have long despised them as dangerous interlopers. But in May National Review, which three decades ago welcomed the neoconservatives into the conservative fold, most memorably in a 1971 editorial entitled "Come on In, the Water's Fine," expressed serious doubts about policy toward Iraq. It called for "An End to Illusion," and gently argued that an intellectual error had been made in the run-up to the Iraq war, "largely, if not entirely a Wilsonian mistake," namely, underestimating the difficulties of creating democracy in hostile territory. Since then, neoconservatives outside the administration have begun to engage in some soul-searching, wondering, as David Brooks conceded, whether they haven't been guilty of dangerous credulity. In turn, this has boosted the realist camp in the Republican Party, which has always viewed the Iraq war with suspicion and believes that U.S. foreign policy should rest primarily upon balance-of-power principles, a la Nixon and Kissinger, rather than upon a neoconservative emphasis on democracy, human rights, and war.

Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke's America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order thus arrives at an opportune moment, it offers the most comprehensive critique to date of neoconservatism from writers who are themselves traditional conservatives. Halper served in the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations, while Clarke, a former British diplomat, is a member of the Cato Institute. They trace the origins of neoconservatism to the 1960s, its links to the Reagan administration, and the rise of a new, younger generation led by William Kristol and Robert Kagan. They do a brilliant job of detailing and analyzing the shadow defense establishment, based in organizations like the Project for a New American Century and the American Enterprise Institute. Based on solid research and deftly written, their book provides a rousing, if ultimately unconvincing, case for a return to realist tenets.

Halper and Clarke offer a sturdy recapitulation of the by-now familiar...