Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire

Description

The teachings of political theorist Leo Strauss (1899–1973) have recently received new attention, as political observers have become aware of the influence Strauss’s students have had in shaping conservative agendas of the Bush administration—including the war on Iraq. This provocative book examines Strauss’s ideas and the ways in which they have been appropriated, or misappropriated, by senior policymakers. Anne Norton, a political theorist trained by some of Strauss’s most famous students, is well equipped to write on Strauss and Straussians. She tells three interwoven narratives: the story of Leo Strauss, a Jewish German-born émigré, who carried European philosophy into a new world; the story of the philosophic lineage that came from Leo Strauss; and the story of how America has been made a moral battleground by the likes of Paul Wolfowitz, Leon Kass, Carnes Lord, and Irving Kristol—Straussian conservatives committed to an American imperialism they believe will usher in a new world order. Contents Preface Acknowledgments Prelude 1. Who Is Leo Strauss? What Is a Straussian? 2. The Lion and the Ass 3. Decline into the West 4. Closing the American Mind 5. Getting the Natural Right 6. Persecution and the Art of Writing 7. Ancients and Moderns 8 The Statesman 9. On Tyranny 10. Conservatism Abandoned 11. The Sicilian Expedition 12. Athens and Jerusalem 13. The School of Baghdad Index