Abstract

The connection between the so-called ‘neoconservative’ members of the Bush-administration, the so-called ‘straussians’ and their teacher, the political philosopher Leo Strauss has been the subject of a heated and protracted debate that antedates the war in Iraq. This contribution attempts to elucidate the historical and philosophical background of the debate. Tracing the development of neoconservatism, as well as its confluence and divergence with straussianism, it addresses some of the criticisms most frequently leveled against Strauss. The principal argument is that neoconservatism’s emphasis on foreign policy and its call for a new world order based on the universal diffusion of American democratic principles are at odds with the straussian understanding of the ‘best regime’ envisaged by classical political philosophy. Moreover, it argues that, as a result of this understanding, Strauss’s classical posture is accompanied by a philosophical awareness of the limits and limitations of both progressivism and conservatism