"Il Principe" nel pensiero dei neoconservatori americani

Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin were two of the leaders of the conservative turn in America after the second war. Strauss argued that the U.S. may be considered as the only modern state that was born in express opposition to the principles of Machiavelli's political philosophy. According to Strauss, Machiavelli is considered a theorist of evil, but he ends, after harsh criticism, by converging with him in considering it necessary to defend the right polis with good weapons and military organization. Voegelin is much more atten-tive to the historical context in which Machiavelli lived. Nevertheless, he con-siders there is no place for those involved in national spiritual obscurantism characteristic of modern thought.