There are a number of right-wing movements in the United States that have a direct impact on policy formation. This is true both for domestic and foreign policy. According to Diamond (1995), right-wing movements gained increased significance after World War II by focusing on the threat of Communism and the expansion of the welfare state. Both of these threats were viewed as disruptive to the agenda of such groups, one that promoted nationalism and limited government. As Diamond (1995) writes, ôMany right-wing activists had opposed the United StatesÆ entry into World War II as vociferously as they had opposed the New Deal economic policies of the 1930s and 1940s,ö (19). Today, right-wing groups continue to influence both domestic and foreign policy, focusing on the use of U.S. force to implement neo-liberal economic models in foreign states considered antagonistic to free trade and development.
Barry (2002) argues that there are ten right-wing sectors that have an impact of U.S. domestic and foreign policy: Anticommunists, Christian Right, Conservative Internationalists, Conservative Mainstream, Libertarians, National Security Militarists, Neoconservatives, New Right, Paleoconservatives, and Social Conservatives, (1-4). The Neoconservatives and the Christian Right (also known as the Religious Right) play the most significant role in shaping domestic and foreign policy. Neoconservatives play a significant role in the formation of foreign policy while the Religious Right continues to exert influence over domestic policies. The Neoconservatives arose in response to what they viewed as a Democratic party that was soft on Communism, particularly the partyÆs seeming acceptance of the USSRÆs policies toward the Israeli-Arab conflict. The Religious right arose as a reaction to the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, including feminism and gay rights. As Zogby (2002) maintains, it was during the 1980s that these groups w...