Republicans on U.S. Foreign Policy: Romney’s Reluctant Embrace of Neoconservatism
Republicans on U.S. Foreign Policy: Romney’s Reluctant Embrace of Neoconservatism

Summary/Abstract: If positions taken by a presidential candidate during the campaign are any indications of the kind of policies that would be implemented in case of electoral success, then Republican Mitt Romney’s foreign and security policy agenda could be labeled as neoconservative. On the campaign trail, Romney has repeatedly invoked or alluded to concepts associated with this strand of Republican thinking about the United States’ role in the world, including so-called moral clarity as a key foreign policy driver, unrivalled military capabilities, seeking and ensuring maximum freedom to manoeuvre for a transformative (if not revolutionary) global strategy without displaying too much deference to multilateralism, standing up to (as opposed to seeking accommodation with) America’s rivals, and preempting growing threats to national security to prevent them from becoming full-blown crises.

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