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

90 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

Mygoalinsteadistoshowhowthe"fourschools"ideacanhelpus
thinkmoreclearlyaboutAmericanforeignpolicy.ThinkingofAmerican
foreignpolicyinthiswayhelpsmetounderstandandeven,onoccasion,
topredictthereactionsofAmericanpoliticiansandpublicopinionto
changinginternationalcircumstances.Ithasdeepenedandclarifiedmy
understandingoftherelationshipsbetweendomesticpoliticsand the
politicsofforeignpolicy.Ithashelpedmefocusonthecontinuitiesin
theAmericanforeignpolicytradition,toseethehistoryofAmericanfor-
eignpolicyasmoreofa unifiedwholeandlessasa sequenceofunrelated
episodes.Ithelpsmetodistinguishbetweenproblemsthatarerelatively
easy fortheAmericanpoliticalsystemtoaddress,andthoseproblemsfor
whichtheAmericansystemmaynotbeabletodevelop aneffective
response.IthashelpedsharpenmyideasaboutwhattheaimsofAmeri-
canforeignpolicyshouldbeinthefuture,evenasithasdeepenedmy
understandingofwhathas beenattempted andaccomplished inthe
past.
Namingthefourschoolsforhistoricalfigureswasa difficultchoice,
butseemedultimatelythebestoneavailable.Serioushistorianscringe,
andrightlyso,atthewholesaleabusesentailedbythispractice.Tospeak
of"Wilsonians"wholivedanddiedonehundredyearsbeforeWilson
proclaimedhisFourteenPointsviolateseverycanonofhistoriographical
responsibility.Worse,eachofthefourmenwhosenamesI appropriated
for one ofthese schools had a distinguished andvaried career. The
Hamiltonof 1801 didnothavethesameviewsthatheheldin1776.So
too,notoriously,didthemercurialandelusiveJeffersondevelopandvary
hisviewsduringhisfiftyyearsinthepubliceye.Onwhatgroundscan
oneabstractfroma longcareera setofprinciplesthatdefinetheessence
ofa contribution?
Moreover,astheschoolsevolvedoverthedecadesandcenturies,they
sometimesmovedawayfromsomeofthekeyviewsofthe"founder."The
schoolI callHamiltonianfollowedinthemaster'sprotectionistfootsteps
foralmost 150 yearsafterhisdeath,butbytheendofWorldWarII,the
leadingfiguresofAmericanbusinesseitherhadembracedorwerejust
abouttoembracethedoctrineoffreetrade.FortheseHamiltonians,asI
call them, theeconomic interestofAmericancapitalism was ofthe
essence;thespecificmeansbywhichtheseinterestscouldbeadvanced
wasa secondaryquestionthatdependedoncircumstances.WouldHamil-
tonhaveagreed?Doesitmatterthatthequestioncanneverbeanswered?
Jackson'shistoricalimagehasbeenbedeviledandcloudedbypre··