From Geo to Neo: A Speculative Inquiry into the Unusual “Geo-Ethnic” Roots of Neoconservatism in US Foreign Policy

Abstract

There has been much controversy over the role that ethnic diasporas (sometimes called “lobbies”) do or should play in shaping American foreign policy. This article looks at one particular ethnic group, American Jews, with a view to assessing the claim made by some authors, to the effect that “neoconservatism” has been influenced considerably by Judaism. The article mostly debunks that claim, at least if the suggestion is that something about Judaism as a religion can help account for the policy agendas espoused by neoconservatives in recent years. However, the authors do argue that a “geo-ethnic” link can be established between a Jewish diaspora in America and the evolution of neoconservatism. Their claim is that a “borderlands” tradition emanating originally on the Russian frontier in the latter part of the nineteenth century was exported to America, through the migration of peoples they refer to as “new borderers.” This folk community, the authors argue, coalesced with another, well-established, folk community of “borderers” (the Scotch-Irish), resulting in the formation of the coalition known in recent years as neoconservatism – a coalition representing a fusion of Jacksonianism and Wilsonianism.