neocon

American  

[nee-oh-kon] / ˌni oʊˈkɒn /

noun

1. an advocate or supporter of neoconservatism; a neoconservative.

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Etymology

Origin of neocon

First recorded in 1975–80; by shortening

Explanation

A neocon is someone who agrees politically with conservative ideas including free market capitalism. Moderate conservatives tend to clash with neocons on issues of foreign policy. Faith in the free market is one important belief of neocons, but even more important is their support of interventionism. In other words, neocons support actively promoting democracy around the world, even if that means using military force. Neocon is short for neoconservative, which adds the neo-, or "new," prefix to conservative. The original neocons abandoned their formerly leftist ideals in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Example Sentences

She’s hemmed in on both sides, damned either way, regarded as an establishment neocon by the left and a radical feminist harpie by the right.

From The Guardian • Jun. 3, 2020

“I wouldn’t put my views in a libertarian box or neocon box,” he concluded.

From New York Times • Jan. 6, 2020

She later added: "OK folks, look, I messed up. I skimmed this piece, zeroed in on the neocon criticism, and shared it without seeing and considering the rest."

From Fox News • Mar. 30, 2019

They exchanged long, blistering, sometimes personal critiques in the pages of the National Interest that, in part, led Fukuyama to distance himself from the neocon movement.

From Washington Post • Jun. 21, 2018

Then, Hamilton was embraced by the likes of David Brooks, the Times’s neocon opinionizer, and Richard Brookhiser, whose 1999 biography celebrated Hamilton as the founding father of American capitalism.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 25, 2015