Paleoconservatism

Paleoconservatism, from the Greek for "old," is a label adopted in the 1980s by conservatives who opposed the neoconservative turn in the movement. Figures associated with it include Pat Buchanan, Paul Gottfried, Thomas Fleming and the journalist Samuel Francis, and publications such as Chronicles and The American Conservative.

Typical themes include defense of national sovereignty and cultural identity, restricted immigration, trade protection, opposition to military intervention abroad (hence a "non-interventionist" foreign policy), a traditional view of religion and family, and distrust of centralized power and large corporations. Many look to the "Old Right" of the 1930s and 1940s, which opposed the New Deal and entry into foreign wars.

The movement was a minority within the conservative movement for decades, but many of its themes returned in the 2010s with the rise of populism and national conservatism, and some analysts treat it as an intellectual precursor of Donald Trump's campaign positions on trade, immigration and foreign wars. Critics, including fellow conservatives, have accused some paleoconservatives of nativism or of tolerating bigotry; the people concerned usually reject the charge. The label contrasts with neoconservatism and with fusionism.