Is this a legitimate term? I have heard this used in a number of ways and can’t determine if the term is a pejorative or a legitimate unbiased term. Is it always applied to a left versus right spectrum?
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“Neo-con ” is a political term. Whether it’s legitimate or insulting kind of depends on who is using it. It was a popular term in the early 2000s, when a lot of the people in the George W. Bush administration allegedly subscribed to those policy positions.
Generally it’s applied to foreign policy. Neo-cons want a strong military, and a United States that is active in foreign affairs. It promotes interventionist policies. In other words, drone strike some terrorists, remove some dictator, put troops into a war-torn country. Get involved and get your hands dirty.
To some degree, every American president since WWII has followed these types of interventionist policies. Neo-cons basically believe in being Team America: World Police. It’s mostly identified with GWB’s administration, but in practice Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton aren’t really much different.
Since Iraq and Afghanistan both dragged on for decades, it isn’t really a desired label. It’s unpopular today to be a neo-con (you aren’t going to win many elections calling yourself that). But it isn’t negative in the sense of calling someone a fascist.
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