Leo Strauss aŶd IŶterŶatioŶal RelatioŶs: The politiĐs of ŵoderŶity’s aďyss Aggie Hirst School of International Politics, City University London, St John Street, EC1V 0HB London, UK. E-mail: aggie.hirst.1@city.ac.uk Abstract This article argues that an engagement with the political philosophy of Leo Strauss is of considerable value in International Relations (IR), in relation to the study of both recent US foreign policy and contemporary IR theory. The question of Straussian activities within and close to the foreign policy- making establishment in the United States during the period leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq has been the focus of significant scholarly and popular attention in recent years. This article makes the case that several individuals influenced by Strauss exercised considerable influence in the fields of intelligence production, the media and think tanks, and traces the ways in which elements of “tƌauss thought aƌe disĐeƌŶiďle iŶ theiƌ iŶteƌǀeŶtioŶs iŶ these spheƌes. It fuƌtheƌ aƌgues that “tƌauss political philosophy is of broader significance for IR insofar as it can be read as a securitising response to the dangers he associated with the foundationlessness of the modern condition. The article demonstrates that the politics of this response are of crucial importance for contemporary debates between traditional and critical IR theorists. Introduction The political philosophy of Leo Strauss has been the subject of controversy within and beyond the disciple of International Relations (IR) in recent years, due in large part to the issue of the influence of Straussians in the US foreign policy-making establishment during the period leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In Jean-FƌaŶĐois Dƌolets ǀieǁ, the gƌoǁth of “tƌaussiaŶisŵ as a school of political thought and its link to the neo-conservative movement and the Republican Party has led to a ǁide ƌaŶge of ĐoŶteŶtious Đlaiŵs aďout “tƌauss alleged iŶflueŶĐe oŶ AŵeƌiĐaŶ politiĐs aŶd foƌeigŶ poliĐLJ siŶĐe the ϭϵϴϬs ;ϮϬϬϵ, p. ϮͿ. “uĐh Đlaims became increasingly widespread in the post- 9/11security environment. As Nicholas Xenos notes, the onset of the US war on Iraq in the spring of 2003 brought with it a series of articles and radio discussions identifying a small group within and around Geoƌge W. Bushs administration that had played a central role in shaping its foreign policy on Iraq and with intellectual roots stretching back to the otherwise obscure political philosopher Leo Strauss. (2008, p. 5) As tǁo of “tƌauss foƌŵeƌ studeŶts siŵilarly attest, following 9/11 Strauss came to be viewed as the thiŶkeƌ ďehiŶd eǀeƌ-larger sets of political actors and policies, but most especially he was being ideŶtified as the ďƌaiŶs ďehiŶd Geoƌge W. Bush aŶd the IƌaƋ Waƌ ;)uĐkeƌt aŶd )uĐkeƌt, ϮϬϬϲ, p. ix).