I read Francis Fukuyama’s renunciation of neoconservatism with amusement, as I realized that he did not so much object to its goals (American empire, global “democrayc”) nor even its means (warfare, propaganda) but to its manner – i.e. unilateral, callous, arrogant. Jim Lobe’s excellent piece, highlighting the key points in Fukuyama’s apostasy, confirmed my initial assessment: Fukuyama abandoned neocons, only to join the “neolibs.”
Instead of denouncing the whole concept of American Imperium, with an omnipotent, aggressive state both at home and abroad, Fukuyama is peddling “realistic Wilsonianism” and multilateral interventionism. It’s lipstick on a pig; perhaps, had G.W. Bush never happened, the world could still blithely accept Clintonian justifications for imperial aggression, but now that they’ve had the taste of the iron fist sans the velvet glove, will they ever be so gullible about Washington again?
Fukuyama’s supposedly radical break isn’t radical at all; he’s still an imperialist, only in slightly different colors. But his vision of the Imperium smells as rank as what we have today.