The essential tenets of neoconservatism—belief that world peace is indivisible, that ideas are powerful, that freedom and democracy are universally valid, and that evil exists and must be confronted—are as valid today as when we first began. ~Joshua Muravchik

I suppose ideas are powerful and it’s obviously true that evil exists and must be confronted (if that is a “tenet of neoconservatism” and not a basic moral truth, my name is George Bush), but as for the rest of it these tenets are as valid today as ever, which is to say that they have never been valid and never will be valid.  Neoconservatism is built on a series of fantasies, chief among which is the universality of freedom and democracy.  This is a delusion or, for those who know better but choose to indulge in this idea, a lie.  That is really all there is to say about that.