Book Forum 

# *Neoconservatism: An Obituary for an Idea*

(Paradigm Publishers, 2010)

##### Watch the Event 

[![QuickTime](/weekly/quicktime.gif)](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/cbf-03-16-11.mp4)[Watch the Event in QuickTime (M4V)](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/cbf-03-16-11.mp4) 
[![ipod](/images/icons/ipod.jpg)](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/cbfa-03-16-11.mp3)[Download a Podcast of the Event (MP3)](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/cbfa-03-16-11.mp3) 

Join the conversation on X using [\#CatoEvents](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoEvents). Follow [@CatoInstitute](https://x.com/catoinstitute) on X to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.

Date and Time 

March 16, 2011 12 - 1:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Hayek Auditorium 

Share This Event 

##### Featuring 

Featuring the author **C. Bradley Thompson**, Clemson University; with comments by **Tod Lindberg**, Hoover Institution; moderated by **David Boaz**, Cato Institute. 

[[![Neoconservatism: An Obituary for an Idea](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/optimized/public/download-remote-images/www.cato.org/138620933958/NeoconDeathOfAnIdea.jpg?itok=VTUOZpLD)](/sites/cato.org/files/download-remote-images/www.cato.org/138620933958/NeoconDeathOfAnIdea.jpg)](http://www.amazon.com/Neoconservatism-Obituary-C-Bradley-Thompson/dp/1594518319/?tag=catoinstitute-20) 
[Purchase book](http://www.amazon.com/Neoconservatism-Obituary-C-Bradley-Thompson/dp/1594518319/?tag=catoinstitute-20)

C. Bradley Thompson, professor of political science and executive director of the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism, has written (with Yaron Brook) a comprehensive and original analysis of neoconservatism. *Neoconservatism* probes what neoconservatives call their “philosophy of governance” — their plan for governing America. It explicates the deepest philosophic principles of neoconservatism, traces the intellectual relationship between the political philosopher Leo Strauss and contemporary neoconservative political actors, and provides a trenchant critique of neoconservatism from the perspective of America’s founding principles. What makes this book so compelling is that Thompson actually lived for many years in the Straussian/​neoconservative intellectual world. *Neoconservatism* therefore fits into the “breaking ranks” tradition of scholarly criticism. Thompson charges that neoconservatism is a species of anti-Americanism, a claim sure to draw strong opposition — probably from Tod Lindberg, editor of *Policy Review* and a member of the Hoover Institution’s Task Force on the Virtues of a Free Society.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).