Norman Podhoretz

Norman Podhoretz ( born January 16, 1930 in Brownsville, New York City ) is an American intellectual who is commonly regarded as one of the leading representatives of neo-conservatism in the United States. He is the son of Jewish parents, who come from Europe.

Career

Podhoretz grew up in Brownsville, a multicultural neighborhood in Brooklyn, which is inhabited mainly by the poorer classes. The family was left-wing; his sister was a member of a socialist youth movement.

Podhoretz acquired the academic degree of Bachelor, both at Columbia University ( where he studied under Lionel Trilling and others) as well as at the Jewish Theological Seminary ( Jewish Theological Seminary ). Later he received the BA first class and the title of Master of Arts from the University of Cambridge, England. He then became editor of the influential, initially (until the end of the 1960s ) rather liberal, then increasingly conservative Commentary Magazine ( USA) and dissolved in 1960 Elliot Cohen as chief editor from; he led the initiated and funded by the American Jewish Committee magazine until his retirement in 1995, currently (January 2007)., he serves as editor of the widely considered as the central organ of neoconservatism political magazine.

1963, at the height of racial unrest in the United States, he published the essay My Negro Problem - And Ours ( " My Negro Problem - and our "), which attracted great attention.

From 1981 to 1987 Podhoretz served the United States Information Agency as a consultant. From 1995 to 2003 he was a Senior Fellow (about: senior scientist or senior staff ) at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Croton-on -Hudson (New York). He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Besides the aforementioned American Jewish Committee Podhoretz is associated with a number of other organizations:

• Project for the New American Century: Signatory to the Charter
• Committee on the Present Danger: Co-Founder ( cf. James Woolsey )
• Committee for the Free World: Co-founder

Influence

Norman Podhoretz is considered very influential. With his book, The Present Danger, the risk of Finlandisation the United States, he has shaped the foreign policy guidance of Ronald Reagan. His son is the former Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States, Elliott Abrams, who is seen as a staunch supporter of a military action against Iran. Abrams was convicted after the Iran - Contra affair in the 1980s for guilty to the Congress withheld evidence. Podhoretz was confident that President George W. Bush would attack Iran before the end of his term. Podhoretz end of September 2007 had made ​​a meeting with Bush publicly. " In our 45 -minute conversation that reportedly did not show up in the official roster of Bush, Bush had very attentively to the arguments Podhoretz ' for an air strike against Iran listened but did not specify their own preference ," it said in a report the "world". " Podhoretz ' disclosure of the conversation just before the appearance of Ahmadinejad at New York's Columbia University, but in some places seen as an indirect warning to Iran. It is very unusual to speak in public without the consent of the White House on dates with Bush. "

Since October 2007, Podhoretz is also a foreign policy advisor to former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who competed as a presidential candidate of the Republican Party.

Familial

Norman Podhoretz is married to the writer Midge Decter (as of 2005). He is the father of syndicated columnist John Podhoretz.

Awards

2004 George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor awarded by the President for a civilian in the United States.