Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

ChangingtheParadigms 83

THEBRITISHLIONDISARMED

TheAlabamaisthefocusofthis 1868 cartoonbyThomasNast,the

mostfamousAmericancartoonistofhisday.America,shownas

Columbia,isclippingtheclawsoftheBritishlionwitha setofscissors

labeled"AlabamaClaims";thecartooncelebratesBritain'sbeingforced

tocompensateAmericaninterestsfordamagescausedbyConfederate

commerceraiderswhichtheBritishillegallyallowedtobebuiltin

theirports.BritishconcessionsintheAlabamadisputemarkeda new

equalityinAnglo-Americanrelations.ThomasNast.LibraryofCongress,Prints

andPhotographsDivision,Harper'sWeekly,AugustI,1868,page 488

a processbywhichAmericanpolicymakerspreparedfortheendofthe
PaxBritannica.
ThethirderaofAmericanforeignpolicyencompassedthetwoworld
warsandsawtherapiddeclineandfalloftheBritishworldsystem.In
theyearsbetween 1914 and 1947 theUnitedStateswasforcedtowrestle
againwithsomeofthebasicstrategicquestionsithadexaminedinthe
first,pre-Monroeera.Withtheoldmothercountryvisiblyindecline,
shouldtheUnitedStatessupplementBritishpoweras itwaned,prop-
pingupBritainasitproppeduptheglobalorder?ShouldtheUnited
Statesinsteadstandbackandlettheworldorderlookafteritself?Or
shouldtheUnitedStatesreplaceGreatBritainasthegyroscopeofworld
order,withallthepolitical,military,andeconomiccosts,benefits,and
responsibilitiesthatrolewouldentail?