The Myth of American Exceptionalism and the Tragedy of Neoconservative Foreign Policy

Abstract

This review essay examines Breaking the Real Axis of Evil by Ambassador Mark Palmer (2003) and A War Too Far by Paul Rogers (2006). I argue that Neoconservatism, as a set of ideas and organizing principles, draws extensively on the philosophy of American exceptionalism. In the exceptionalism narrative, Madisonian constitutionalism and a market economy are the highest ideals and the logical end-points of both political revolution and economic reform. In this particular iteration, however, the process of democracy matters less than the outcome, and democracy is valued less as a humanistic ideal and more as a tool of strategic advantage.