1965 Irving Kristol explains why 2006 Irving Kristol hates Superman

The neoconservative defense of the Iraq War--namely, that it would send a tidal wave of democracy to smash middle eastern autocracy--looks pretty thin amid the continuing reports of violence that fill the daily news. Still, the idea that the U.S. should aim to export democracy has wide support, and even those who oppose using violence to do so still tend to see democracy promotion as a goal in and of itself. Pure realpolitik-ers are a minority.

So, I was surprised to come across the following quote from Irving Kristol. Kristol is today regarded as the founder of neoconservatism (even Wikipedia says so), but in a 1965 NY Times op-ed, he suggests a vastly different intellectual environment:

"The central concept of American foreign policy today is 'the national interest'; and anyone who seriously asserts that it is our task to make the world safe for democracy is regarded as incurably frivolous. There are still some people around who think that it is wrong for the United States, under any conditions, to ally itself with nondemocratic regimes. But they are the kind of people who also think there is something immoral about comic books."

To be fair, few neoconservatives today are actually so committed to purity of alliances, despite their lofty rhetoric. Still, what a difference 40 years makes!

On a side note, Kristol was about half right with this prediction:

"Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, India--to say nothing of Japan and Communist China--will, before 1999, be pushing their way to the forefront [of the great powers]."

[from Irving Kristol, "The 20th Century Began in 1945" New York Times 2 May 1965]