Neoconservatives justified permanent American hegemony as a defense against US weakness

Evidence

In 1996 Bill Kristol and Robert Kagan published an important essay in Foreign Affairs titled “Toward a Neo-Reaganite Foreign Policy.” Rejecting balance-of-power realism, they argued that in a world in which peace and American security depend on American power and the will to use it, the main threat the United States faces now and in the future is its own weakness. American hegemony is the only reliable defense against a breakdown of peace and international order. The appropriate goal of American foreign and defense policy, therefore, is to preserve that hegemony as far into the future as possible. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 466

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distills the core neoconservative doctrine distinguishing it from balance-of-power realism.
• SEED: An essay angle on how ‘the main threat is our own weakness’ framing pre-empts critique of aggression as self-defense.
• XREF: connects to: US regional hegemony drove Washington to sabotage Allende’s Chilean government — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 321; Neoconservatives believe only overwhelming American military dominance prevents great power war; Post-Cold War US-based neocons theorized that a single hegemonic power guarantees global stability (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Post-Cold War US-based neocons theorized that a single hegemonic power guarantees global stability #corroborates (0.85)
• Unipolar American military dominance defines neoconservatism as a doctrine #expands (0.80)
• Neoconservatism is defined by exceptionalism plus unipolar military preponderance as universal good #expands (0.80)
• Neoconservatism is defined by unipolarism and military preponderance #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 379