Liberal hawk explained

The term liberal hawk refers to a politically liberal person (generally, in the American sense of the term) who supports a hawkish, interventionist foreign policy.

Overview

Past U.S. presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson have been described as liberal hawks for their roles in bringing about America's status as the world's premier military power. The Clinton Doctrine can also be considered as consistent with this vision. Today the term is most frequently used to describe liberals and leftists who supported or still support the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, which was authorized by the United States Congress and ordered by president George W. Bush. The war has stirred heated controversy among all political sides of the debate. The American left was divided over the issue of whether going to war in Iraq was the right decision, as some liberals felt that they should support the war, in accordance with their philosophy of liberal internationalism, which had caused them to support military intervention earlier.^[1]

One document often cited as promoting a liberal hawkish point of view is , published by the Progressive Policy Institute in October 2003. Another document related to the philosophy is a letter to President Bush sent by Social Democrats USA in February 2003, which urged the military overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime.^[2]

In January 2004, Paul Berman, Thomas Friedman, Christopher Hitchens, George Packer, Kenneth Pollack, Jacob Weisberg, Fareed Zakaria, and Fred Kaplan participated in a five-day online forum, Liberal Hawks Reconsider the Iraq War, in which they discussed whether they had been correct in advocating military action against Saddam Hussein's regime. Kaplan by that point had renounced his prior support, but the general consensus among the participants was that, despite the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the war had still been justified on humanitarian grounds.

In his book The Good Fight, published in 2006, Peter Beinart renounced his prior support for the Iraq War: "I was too quick to give up on containment, too quick to think time was on Saddam's side."

Opposition to the Sunshine Policy

The Sunshine Policy is the dovish foreign policy with North Korea of South Korean liberals, and Donald Trump or Trumpists have also expressed support,^[3] but mainstream American liberals, dubbed the 'Washington establishment', de facto oppose the policy and support hawkish foreign policy toward North Korea,^[4] creating a conflict with South Korean liberals.^[5]

Despite being a liberal, U.S. President Barack Obama opposed the Sunshine Policy and preferred a hawkish foreign policy toward North Korea called "Strategic Patience Policy".^[6]

U.S. liberals' hostile diplomatic approach to North Korea has made South Korea liberals prefer Donald Trump diplomatically to South Korean conservatives. In the 2020 United States presidential election, Hong Joon-pyo, a right-wing populist politician known as a "Korean Trumpist",^[7] supported Joe Biden.^[8] The current president of South Korea Yoon Suk-yeol, dubbed the "K-Trump" in South Korean media, defended Joe Biden's policy toward North Korea, opposing the Sunshine Policy of Donald Trump and South Korean liberals. In contrast, South Korean liberal Moon Chung-in and Kim Ou-joon supported Donald Trump and Trumpists' Sunshine Policy.^{[5] [9]}

Notable people associated

The list includes people who have been described as liberal hawks.

Politicians

• Howard Berman – former U.S. Representative from California^[10]
• Joe Biden - U.S. President, elected in 2020^[11]
• Tony Blair – former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom^{[12] [13] [14]}
• Ben Cardin – U.S. Senator from Maryland, former U.S. Representative from Maryland^[15]
• Hillary Clinton – former First Lady of the United States, former U.S. Senator from New York, former US Secretary of State, 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee^{[16] [17] [18] [19] [20]}
• Joe Donnelly – former U.S. Representative and senator from Indiana^{[21] [22]}
• Eliot Engel – former U.S. Representative from New York^[23]
• Al Gore – former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, former Vice President of the United States, 2000 Democratic presidential nominee^[24]
• Josh Gottheimer – U.S. Representative from New Jersey^[25]
• Jane Harman – former U.S. Representative from California^{[26] [27]}
• Michael Ignatieff – former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, former professor at Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy^[28]
• Henry "Scoop" Jackson – United States Senator who represented Washington State from 1953 to 1983^{[29] [30]}
• Joe Lieberman (deceased) – former U.S. Senator from Connecticut, 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, 2004 Democratic presidential candidate^{[31] [32] [33]}
• Tzipi Livni – former vice prime minister of Israel, founder of the Hatnuah party, Foreign Minister, Justice Minister and Leader of the Opposition.^[34]
• Bob Menendez – U.S. Senator from New Jersey, former U.S. Representative from New Jersey^{[35] [36]}
• Sam Nunn – former U.S. Senator from Georgia (1972-1997)^{[37] [38] [39]}
• Kyrsten Sinema – U.S. Senator from Arizona, former U.S. Representative from Arizona^[40]

Government officials

• Jake Sullivan – current U.S. National Security Advisor^{[41] [42]}
• Madeleine Albright (deceased) – former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, former U.S. Secretary of State^[43]
• Zbigniew Brzezinski (deceased) – former National Security Advisor, political scientist^{[44] [45] [46] [47]}
• Kenneth Pollack – former Clinton administration advisor and senior fellow at The Brookings Institution

Other

• Ronald D. Asmus (deceased) – scholar at the German Marshall Fund of the United States^[48]
• Paul Berman – contributing editor to Dissent and The New Republic (described as a 'Philosopher King' of liberal hawks)^[48]
• Jonathan Chait – self-described liberal hawk^[49]
• Larry Diamond – senior fellow at the Hoover Institution^[48]
• Christopher Hitchens (deceased) – British-American journalist, essayist, critic and writer^[50]
• Michael Tomasky – Editor of Guardian America^[48]

See also

• Cold War liberal
• Pro-war Left
• Neoconservatism

External links

• Progressive Internationalism: A Democratic National Security Strategy
• Slate: Liberal Hawks Reconsider the Iraq War
• Bush’s Useful Idiots, Tony Judt, London Review of Books, 21 September 2006

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Liberal Quandary Over Iraq. December 8, 2002. The New York Times Magazine.
2. http://www.socialdemocrats.org/IraqLetter3.html Letter to President Bush
3. Web site: "트럼프, 미국판 '햇볕정책' 보여줘...4차회담은 8~9월" . Donald Trump supports the American version 'Sunshine policy'. The fourth round of talks will take place in August or September. . 노컷뉴스 . 1 July 2019 . 21 March 2023 . March 21, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230321085227/https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/5175141 . live .
4. Web site: Bruce Cumings hopes Trump's lack of ties to Washington establishment offers solution for Korean Peninsula . . 17 June 2018 . 23 April 2023.
5. Web site: 문정인 "바이든이 미 대통령 되면 북한 문제 풀기 어려워" . Moon Chung-in said, "If Biden [not Trump] becomes the U.S. president, it will be difficult to solve the North Korean problem". . . 3 July 2020 . 21 March 2023.
6. Park Byoung-chul, Joo In-suck ed. (2016). The North Korean Policy of the Obama Administration and Korea-America Relationship: Change and Perspective. Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
7. Web site: South Korean opposition leader: Nukes are the only way to guarantee peace . Nicknamed “Hong Trump,” he has been compared to the US President in the past for his outspoken, sometimes offensive campaigning style. ... Like Trump, Hong attracted criticism during the campaign over his attitudes towards women, after he was quoted as saying washing dishes was women’s work. Controversy also erupted over an anecdote in Hong’s autobiography in which he described helping a friend drug a girl he was on a date with. . . 18 October 2017 . 21 March 2023.
8. Web site: 홍준표 "위장평화쇼 트럼프 시대 저물어…문재인 정권 심판받을 차례" . Hong Joon-pyo said, "The era of Trump based on the camouflage peace show is over. Therefore, the Moon Jae-in regime [who was diplomatically friendly to Trump when Trump supported pro-North Korea foreign policy] will be judged". . 머니투데이 . 6 November 2020 . 21 March 2023.
9. Web site: 김어준 "바이든 찍으면 미북 정상회담 못 봐" 황당방송 . Kim Ou-joon said, "If [Americans] vote Biden, [Korean] can't see the North Korea–United States summit", it is absurd remark broadcasting. . . 8 August 2020 . 21 March 2023.
10. Web site: Berman – A Hawk 20 Years in the Making. March 7, 2003. Los Angeles Times.
11. Web site: Joe Biden championed the Iraq war. Will that come back to haunt him now?. Feb 17, 2020. The Guardian.
12. Web site: Liberal Hawks, an Endangered Species. May 28, 2007. The Weekly Standard.
13. Web site: Is Tony Blair a war criminal?. December 4, 2009 . The Telegraph.
14. Web site: The Nation; Blair, the Hawk, Finds Himself With Some Unlikely Friends. February 23, 2003. The New York Times.
15. Web site: Ben Cardin Is a Hawk. Will Maryland Voters Punish Him for It?. May 10, 2018. The Nation.
16. Web site: How Hillary Clinton Became a Hawk. 24 April 2016. The New York Times.
17. Web site: Hillary the Hawk: A History. July 27, 2016. ForeignPolicy.com.
18. Web site: Why is Hillary Clinton still a hawk?. July 1, 2016. Chicago Tribune.
19. Web site: Yes, Hillary Clinton Is a Hawk. February 6, 2014. The National Interest.
20. Web site: Hillary the Hawk. February 21, 2007. The Nation.
21. Web site: Joe Donnelly talks like a Republican in his newest ad. October 16, 2018. Washington Examiner.
22. Web site: The Loneliest Democrat in Trump Country. December 5, 2017. Politico Magazine.
23. Web site: Chavez . Aida . Hawkish Democrat Rep. Eliot Engel Is Facing Two Primary Challengers . The Intercept . June 18, 2019 . February 21, 2024.
24. Heilbrunn . Jacob . President Gore's Foreign Policy . World Policy Journal . 2020 . 17 . 2 . 49 . 40209691 . February 21, 2024.
25. Web site: Ahlman . Austin . Hawkish Democrats Ramp Up Campaign Against Possible New Iran Deal . The Intercept . August 31, 2022 . February 21, 2024.
26. Web site: Hire Harman for Chair of Intelligence? No, Nancy, No. November 22, 2006. HuffPost.
27. Harman's Harm?. April 20, 2009. The New Republic.
28. Web site: Let the mighty liberal hawks soar. August 14, 2007. Los Angeles Times.
29. The Nation: The Democrats' Liberal Hawk on Capitol Hill. March 22, 1971. Time.
30. Web site: Return of the liberal hawks. May 28, 2006. Los Angeles Times.
31. Web site: Joe Lieberman, Religion, and Iraq. February 20, 2007. Smart Politics.
32. Web site: A Hawk for All Seasons. August 14, 2006. The American Prospect.
33. Web site: Who Would Joe Lieberman Vote for in 2020? Not Who You'd Think. May 3, 2018. Tablet Magazine.
34. Web site: Palestine papers: Tzipi Livni. Jan 23, 2011. The Guardian.
35. Web site: The Democrats' Unlikely Hawk. December 2, 2013. The American Conservative.
36. Web site: Democrat hawk says he's sticking by Iran deal after reclaiming top panel spot. February 9, 2018. Al-Monitor.
37. Web site: Crowley . Michael . The Stuff Sam Nunn's Nightmares Are Made of . The New York Times . February 21, 2024.
38. Web site: Quigley . Bernie . Draft Sam Nunn. There's Still Time. . The Hill . August 14, 2008 . February 21, 2024.
39. Web site: Sack . Kevin . Nunn, Model Southern Democrat, To Retire From Senate Next Year . The New York Times . February 21, 2024.
40. Web site: Kyrsten Sinema's anti-war activist past under scrutiny as she runs for Senate. October 12, 2018. CNN Politics.
41. Web site: Jake Sullivan - 40 Under 40. Jay. Webber. Time.
42. Web site: The Sources of American Power. Jake. Sullivan. October 24, 2023. Foreign Affairs.
43. Web site: The Lady Is a Hawk. December 15, 1996. Newsweek.
44. Web site: The last hawk: Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928-2017). June 1, 2017. Open Democracy.
45. Web site: Once a Hawk, Brzezinski Sees Hope for U.S.-Russia Relations. November 27, 2015. Politico Magazine.
46. Web site: Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser to Jimmy Carter, Dies at 89. May 26, 2017. The New York Times.
47. Web site: On Zbigniew Brzezinski: Geopolitical Mastermind, Realist Practitioner. June 5, 2017. Foreign Policy Journal.
48. Web site: Liberal Hawk Down. October 7, 2004. The Nation.
49. The Yoke's On You, Krauthammer. Jonathan. Chait. 17 March 2010. The New Republic.
50. Web site: Hitchens takes a beating. August 27, 2005. Salon.