The Conservative Movement

Book excerpt: At the beginning of the 1990s, conservative commentators have increasingly focused on the growing fragmentation of the American political and intellectual Right. From the early postwar years, when a small band of intellectual dissidents emerged in response to the Soviet threat, to the 1980s and the Reagan years, when the coalition of journalists, politicians, and lobbyists known as the New Right reached the height of its influence, the conservative movement has always been a complex, shifting set of ideologies and factions. In this revised and updated study, Paul Gottfried provides an insider's look at the factions and controversies, the personalities and ideologies, the rival journals and institutes. He presents the argument that the scope of this war on the Right has been misrepresented by journalists, who have been sympathetic to the moderates and have consistently downplayed the strength and intelligence of the paleoconservatives. A striking feature of the book is a detailed, well-informed exposition of the conservative foundations and think tanks - revealing who funds whom, and who controls whom - information that has never before appeared in print. Gottfried discusses the implications of the 1992 electoral campaign for the future of the Right: from paleocon Pat Buchanan's controversial bid for the Republican nomination to the migration of several leading neocons over to Democratic candidate Bill Clinton's camp. Certain to spark both attention and controversy, this book is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the complex conservative landscape and its prospects for the future.