NeoCon Watch

Mr Fukuyama said, he retained his neoconservative principles - a belief in the universal aspiration for democracy and the use of American power to spread democracy in the world.

Mr Krauthammer, for his part, argued that Mr Fukuyama's essay did not amount to much of a critique at all.

'His recalibrations are astonishingly empty,' he said, arguing that Mr Fukuyama's criticisms were undercut by his ultimate endorsement of the same neoconservative views.