This “Editor briefing” in the U.K.’s Guardian Unlimited uses short quotes from various news and opinion sources as “answers” to a series of basic questions about the “neo-cons” — the term frequently used to refer to the group behind the PNAC’s (and now America’s) foreign policy model. The format leaves a little to be desired, but the “briefing” provides a decent basic summary, and its question & answer format makes it easier to digest than many of the longer articles about the PNAC. This excerpt on the Middle East plan is the best example of that:

And their Middle East plan? The US establishes a reasonably democratic, pro-western government in Iraq. When Palestinians see Iraqis beginning to enjoy real freedom and economic opportunity [they’ll] demand the Palestinian Authority reform politically and negotiate with Israel. A democratic Iraq will also hasten the fall of the fundamentalist Shia mullahs in Iran, whose citizens are gradually adopting anti-fanatic, pro-western sympathies. Jordan’s pro-western Hashemite monarchy would likely come into full bloom. Syria would be no more than a pale reminder of the bad old days. (If they made trouble, a US invasion would take care of them, too). The corrupt regimes of Saudi Arabia and Egypt would [look like] holdouts against the democratic tide. We could decide whether to ignore them as harmless throwbacks to the old days or deal with them, too.

Joshua Micah Marshall in Washington Monthly, April

The rise of the Washington ‘neo-cons’
The Editor briefing
Monday April 14, 2003
The Guardian