Leo Strauss and International Relations: The politics of modernity's abyss

Abstract

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. This article makes the case that several individuals influenced by Strauss exercised considerable influence in the fields of intelligence production, the media and think tanks, and traces the ways in which elements of Strauss' thought are discernible in their interventions in these spheres. It further argues that Strauss' political philosophy is of broader significance for IR insofar as it can be read as a securitising response to the dangers he associated with the foundationlessness of the modern condition. The article demonstrates that the politics of this response are of crucial importance for contemporary debates between traditional and critical IR theorists. Permanent repository link:

Neoconservatism, bohemia and the moral economy of neoliberalism

“…David Harvey has described neoconservatism as neoliberalism's moral support (Harvey, 2005: 82), in this paper I will develop this thought and show how the neoconservative moral discourse has established a moral legitimation that is central to neoliberalism and the overcoming of what Hirst has described "modernity's abyss" (Hirst, 2012) . By overcoming and co-opting aspects of the bohemian attitude, neoliberalism established new moral codes based on risk, flexibility the creativity of the individual and the will to embrace chance.…”

“…Foreign policy presents a sphere where a black and white code can be re-imposed (Drolet, 2013;Hommolar, 2010;Hirst, 2012;Halper and Clarke, 2004). I would not dispute these claims and they are well supported by neoconservatives themselves (Kristol and Kagan, 1996).…”