The US neoconservatives and the Arab Spring

• Grant number: 15/02546-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2015
• End date: August 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Gustavo Poggio Teixeira
• Grantee: José Felipe Ribeiro Calandrelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Sociais. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Neoconservatism, an important US political school of thought born in the 60s, had a significant development during the Cold War and reached its peak during the Bush administration. In arguing that democracy, allied to moral themes, is the answer to solve the issues of world peace and security, the neoconservatism has as a strong ideological basis the belief of the United States of America as the country responsible for spreading these ideals around the globe. The neoconservatives, in believing in that mission, strongly support military interventions when necessary, since they recognize the existence of an enemy to be fought with - during the Cold War they fought communism; now they have found in transnational terrorism their new enemies. Recognizing the ability of neoconservatism in influencing US foreign policy, and also considering the consequences of this influence, this study aims to analyze and compile the writings produced by the most known neoconservatives today and map the main lines of thought which form current neoconservative ideas, especially regarding their positions on the so called "Arab Spring".