Germany and Neoconservatism: A Tragedy of Errors?

This article analyzes how neoconservatism is perceived in Germany and elsewhere in Old Europe, contrasts the misperceptions of the tenets of neoconservatism with its actual political and ideological substance, formulates a basic definition of contemporary neoconservative thought on foreign policy, and concludes that Germans and Americans have drawn fundamentally different lessons from history and therefore face the challenges of the twenty-first century with completely different mind-sets. Finally, the author offers some degree of hope for achieving a revitalized and sustainable transatlantic relationship by providing an outline of possible ways to achieve that objective.