This thesis examines the development of neoconservatism through the lens of the distinctive theory of intelligence associated with the movement. The key primary sources for this theory are the writings of the National Strategy Information Center, and its project, the Consortium for the Study of Intelligence. An analysis of this literature in its historical context shows it to reflect the development of an epistemic community theorising the practice of a cadre of activists experienced in political warfare - the covert intervention by one country in the internal politics of another. The roots of this tradition are traced to the beginnings of modern mass propaganda in the context of the First World War and the Russian Revolution. The Comintern developed as a centre of expertise in the field before fracturing in the 1930s. A group of activists associated with the Lovestoneite group gravitated towards the Western Allies at the outset of World War Two, marking the development of a political warfare coalition, an alliance of state intelligence agencies and sympathetic civil society groups committed to supporting covert political intervention in other societies. This coalition was institutionalised in the early Cold War, but broke up as it lost state support in the era of detente in the 1970s. In the context of a counter-movement against detente, former intelligence officers and labour activists attempted to develop an epistemic community around a theory of intelligence that would provide a basis for renewed state support for political warfare. This theory informed the actions of neoconservatives in the presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. The neoconservative theory explicitly defined itself against rival approaches to intelligence based on scientific values. As such, the neoconservative case has significant theoretical implications for the scope and assumptions involved in the concept of epistemic communities in general.

'The conservatives' rout', a study in politics, literature, and philosophy, is an endeavor to trace historically the course of conservative thought in Britain and America from the beginning of the French Revolution to the present day.

The thesis focuses on the conservative canon and analyses the validity of exceptionalist claims of conservative thinking through a deconstructive reading of conservatism. The comparison of classical and radical conservatisms provides the grounds for this analysis. After the introductory chapter, the second chapter of this thesis focuses on the general characteristics of the conservative ideology. It consists of three sub-sections. The first of these presents the characteristics of classical conservatism, while the second turns to consider radical conservatism. Then, in the third sub-section, a discussion of the similarities and differences between these two conservatisms leads to a proposed definition of a core of the conservative canon. Here, it is argued that the epistemological and ontological imperfection of individuals can be regarded as the definitive core, or as the precept which the justification of conservative policies relies upon. The third chapter then focuses on the views of a number of significant figures in the development of political thought on ideology, which is used by these thinkers as a critical tool. A narrative of the historical developments in the analyses of ideology and ideologies is presented in this chapter. In the last part of the chapter, Derridian thinking is introduced. The fourth chapter problematises conservative exceptionalism, or the belief that there is a fundamental difference between conservatism and other ideologies. This chapter is founded upon the analyses of the previous two chapters, using the Derridian reading and referring to the characteristics and commonalities of the conservative canon presented. In this chapter, radicalism is argued to be a persistent theme in conservative thinking, and conservatism is claimed to be founded upon its impossibility.