Rise and Demise of the "New American Century"

The glory days of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) quickly passed. When neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan formed PNAC in 1997, they aimed to set forth a new agenda for post-Cold War foreign and military policy that would ensure that the United States could claim the 21 st century as its own--where U.S. military dominance would not only protect U.S. national security and national interests but would also establish a global Pax Americana.

The election of George W. Bush opened the door to the Pentagon, vice president's office, State Department, and the National Security Council for PNAC associates, many of whom--including Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Douglas Feith, and Paul Wolfowitz--became the leading figures in the Bush administration's foreign policy team. Although not all were neoconservatives themselves, the PNAC associates brought neoconservative ideology and a common conviction of U.S. supremacy with them into government. However, it was not until Sept. 11 that the PNAC-dominated foreign policy team got its chance to fast-forward their plans to remake the world as a U.S. dominion.

Back in 2001 and even into 2002 few Americans--even in foreign policy circles--knew about the Project for the New American Century or could speak knowledgeably about the history and ideological convictions of neoconservatives. Nearly five years after Sept. 11 and more than three years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, most Americans who follow foreign policy and U.S. politics are familiar with the term neoconservative and probably have heard about the Project for the New American Century.
As the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan have become quagmires, the glory days of PNAC have been cut short by the limits of U.S. power and the follies of the Bush administration's arrogance. Yet by no means is it certain if the lessons of PNAC's successes and delusions have been learned, either by the U.S. public or the U.S. policy community. The agenda set out by PNAC in its 1997 "Statement of Principles" reflects the exceptionalism and supremacy that still pervades this country. And many of PNAC's policy prescriptions regarding regime change, increased U.S. military budgets, unilateral action, and America's moral mission remain part of the common political discourse.

By 2005 PNAC began to fade from the political landscape, and though the website is still functioning, it has been dormant since late that year. But the neoconservatives, together with their Religious Right and military-industrial complex allies, remain prominent actors in shaping the directions of U.S. foreign and military policy--some within government and others from a wide array of neocon-led think tanks, front groups, and policy institutes.

The IRC is publishing this special report on the Project for the New American Century, along with an accompanying report on the Committee on the Present Danger, as part of an effort to stimulate more reflection on the dangers of the ideology and political projects of the neoconservatives and their allies...http://tinyurl.com/zv7wy
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