The proper definition of “conspiracy theory” is the “false belief in a secret force influencing events.” Liberals used to say Nancy Reagan’s astrologist, Joan Quigley, directed American foreign policy by way of Nancy’s influence on the president — that charge was a good example of a conspiracy theory. If Joan Quigley was directing American foreign policy, she was actually doing a pretty good job of it: bringing down the Soviet Union and containing China, for example.
