The Anti-War Movement's Future Lies with Conservatives, Not Progressives
Source: The American Conservative. "So Much for the Anti-War Left! - The American Conservative." March 9, 2026. www.theamericanconservative.com
The Gist
The author argues that liberals and progressives naturally support wars and foreign intervention because their ideology wants to spread universal rights everywhere, while conservatives naturally oppose wars because they focus on protecting their own country and traditions. Since even socialist AOC now sounds like a hawk, the antiwar movement should align with conservatives instead of the left.
Conclusion
The future of the antiwar movement must be on the right because conservatism is inherently more compatible with noninterventionism than leftist ideology
Premises
- AOC's hawkish statements at Munich show that even prominent leftists abandon antiwar positions when in power
- American progressives have consistently led the nation into foreign wars throughout history, from the Spanish-American War (1898) through Vietnam and modern interventions
- Leftist ideology universalizes politics and views rights as applying to all humanity, naturally leading to interventionist foreign policy
- Conservative philosophy recognizes that 'all politics is local' and emphasizes preserving inherited traditions and national identity
- America's founding principles and early leaders like Washington and John Quincy Adams warned against foreign entanglements
- When conservatives abandon noninterventionism (as with neoconservatives), they cease to be truly conservative and abandon other conservative principles like fiscal responsibility
- Historical precedent shows that antiwar conservatism has existed before and can be rebuilt
Assumptions
- AOC represents the broader progressive/leftist movement rather than being an outlier
- Historical patterns of progressive interventionism will continue in the future
- Conservative philosophy is inherently more compatible with noninterventionism than leftist philosophy
- The neoconservative movement represents a departure from true conservatism rather than its natural evolution
- America's founding noninterventionist principles should guide current foreign policy