The Evolution of Conservative Foreign Policy: From Neoconservatism to American First Nationalism

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p> <p>This thesis examines the transformation of Conservative Foreign Policy, from the Neoconservative Consensus of the George W. Bush Administration (2001 - 2009) to the emergent America First Nationalism of the Trump Administration (2017 - 2021). This thesis implements a mixed-methods qualitative research design, using historical genealogy, textual discourse analysis, and sociological synthesis, the research framework demonstrates how domestic political conditions and ideological contestations fundamentally shape and restructure foreign policy paradigms within a comparative framework. Drawing upon various primary and secondary sources, this thesis argues that the failures of the Iraq war, ascribed to Neoconservatism, resulted in a legitimacy crisis, producing a period of ideological contestation within the conservative movement during which past and newly emergent traditions both sought to assert themselves. This thesis argues that foreign policy paradigm shifts are neither automatic responses to policy failure nor purely elite driven processes but rather require multiple factors: crises that undermine the intellectual legitimacy of prevailing orthodoxies, shifts in party coalitions, and emergent political entrepreneurship that successfully articulates and mobilizes an alternative vision.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

International Relations

Year dc:date.available

2026

Author dc:creator

• Rybka, William G

Contributors dc:contributor

• Mario Baez
• Jean Krasno

• Neoconservatism
• Paleoconservatism
• Foreign Policy
• Conservatism
• Cold War
• Liberalism
• Cold War Liberalism

Repository record dc:identifier

https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1315

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:academicworks.cuny.edu:cc_etds_theses-2419