Trotskyists: the Backbone of the Neocons?

Fact checking Alastair Crooke

Jun 05, 2025

By Lorraine Pratley, and AI.

A short article, on something that jumped out at me in Alastair’s otherwise excellent interview with the Judge, about the June 1 Ukraine drone attack on Russian jets. (Indeed, it is the best I’ve seen so far in understanding that event)

At about the 15:15 mark, the Judge asks

Why would Mossad be involved? Doesn’t Mossad have enough to do [in the Middle East, spying etc.]

To which Alastair replies

There’s been a long history, going back to the Tsarist period of antagonism for supposed anti-semitism and we saw that with the Trotskyists in the United States who formed the backbone on the neo-con movement.

Say what??

He seems to be implying that the Trotskyists hated Russia, at least in part, because of the anti-Semitism under the Tsar. So these Trotskyists became neo-cons to start the War on Terror to defend the ‘Jewish’ state.

The Russian Revolution of 1917, that toppled the Tsar, resoundingly rejected his use of anti-semitism as a divide-and-rule tactic. It’s true Stalin revived it in the later years of his rule, for similar reasons. But by 2000, Stalin was long gone, by 47 years—and the Soviet Union itself had already collapsed nearly a decade earlier.

And weren’t the Trotskyists, who broke with Stalin, mostly concerned with reviving the struggle for socialism, not with promoting war or supporting the racist state of Israel?

My first thought was something I tell my students: Beware the intellectuals! Mussolini was a socialist-turned-fascist. Were there some American Trotskyists like this?—highly political people searching for a world view and a place in it. But those who ‘turn’ are a minority.

Let’s see what ChatGPT has to say:

Question:

Is Alistair crooke correct to say that the Trotskyists formed the backbone of the neocon movement in America?

Answer:

Alastair Crooke’s claim that Trotskyists formed the backbone of the neoconservative movement in America is a partial truth wrapped in oversimplification. While there is a kernel of historical connection, it’s misleading to suggest a direct or dominant lineage from Trotskyism to neoconservatism. Here’s a nuanced breakdown:

✅ What’s True:

1. Some early neoconservatives had Trotskyist or leftist roots:

• In the mid-20th century, a number of influential intellectuals who later became associated with neoconservatism had been former leftists, including Trotskyists.

• Key figures include:

• Irving Kristol, often called the “godfather of neoconservatism”, was briefly a Trotskyist in his youth.

• James Burnham was a former Trotskyist who later moved sharply to the right and influenced Cold War conservative strategy.

• Nathan Glazer, Seymour Martin Lipset, and other New York intellectuals associated with the anti-Stalinist left also played a role in shaping early neoconservative thought.

2. Anti-Stalinism shaped Cold War liberalism and neoconservatism:

• These intellectuals were deeply anti-Soviet, partly due to disillusionment with Stalinism.

• Their critique of totalitarianism (especially Soviet communism) carried over into a more muscular, interventionist U.S. foreign policy, especially during the Cold War.

❌ What’s Overstated or Misleading:

1. Trotskyist ideology is fundamentally at odds with neoconservatism:

• Trotskyists advocate permanent revolution, international socialism, and proletarian internationalism.

• Neoconservatives promote U.S. global dominance, capitalist markets, and often religious or traditional values—which are antithetical to Trotskyist principles.

• Whatever leftist background some had, their ideological shift was total.

2. Most neoconservatives were not former Trotskyists:

• By the 1970s–2000s, the core of the neocon movement (e.g., Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Robert Kagan, William Kristol) were not former leftists but products of elite academic institutions and conservative think tanks like AEI and PNAC.

• Their main concerns were U.S. hegemony, military strength, and moral clarity in foreign policy, not leftist theory.

3. Neoconservatism’s rise was more influenced by Cold War liberalism than Trotskyism:

• It emerged largely as a reaction to the perceived failure of liberal foreign policy during Vietnam and détente.

• It also absorbed ideas from Leo Strauss (moral absolutism and political realism) more than from Marx or Trotsky.

📌 Conclusion:

Alastair Crooke’s statement reflects a historical curiosity—that some founding neoconservatives started on the far left, including Trotskyism—but it overstates the continuity. The neocon movement’s actual ideology and policy goals bear little resemblance to Trotskyism.

So: Not entirely wrong, but deeply reductive and misleading if taken literally.

Let me know if you’d like sources or deeper analysis on specific figures like Kristol or Burnham. [Ever helpful!]