Neoconservatism has undergone a transformation that has made a clear identity almost impossible to capture. This title gives neoconservatism its due as a complex movement and predicts it remains an influential force in the American political landscape.

Sometimes we need a non-American to see American politics in a proper perspective. Vaisse offers one of the most comprehensive and balanced studies of the history of neoconservatism yet to appear. -- Francis Fukuyama, author of America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy In contrast to most of the writing about neoconservatism that has appeared in recent years, Vaisse has tackled the difficult topic in a serious and balanced way. One doesn't have to agree with everything in his book to know that it will set a standard by which other studies will be judged. -- Gary Schmitt, American Enterprise Institute, and former director, Project for the New American Century With a sharp scalpel and brilliant insights, Vaisse offers his readers everything they need to know to make their own judgments about neoconservatism, a movement that threatens America's national interests by advocating policies that exacerbate the very threats it proclaims to be opposing. -- Zbigniew Brzezinski Vaisse's book should stand as the definitive history of the neoconservative movement. His detailed account traces the movement's origins, its growth and changes, its uneasy relationship with first the Democratic and then the Republican Party. The tone is dispassionate and analytical; at the same time, Vaisse tells a good, readable story, fleshed out with people and anecdotes. This is an outstanding work. -- James Mann, author of Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet It took Tocqueville to explain Jacksonian America to Americans, so it should not surprise us that another shrewd French student of the United States has written one of the most careful, thoughtful, and engaging books on neoconservatism. Vaisse tells the movement's story with grace and sheds great light on the importance of its roots in the Democratic Party, its outsized influence on American foreign policy, and the sometimes subtle but important differences among its loyalists and fellow travelers. -- E. J. Dionne, Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics and Souled Out