94 SPECIALPROVlDENCEOnemightalsodividealltheschoolsinto"highflyers"and"lowfly-
ers."Thehighflyersine,:eryschoolareeagertoputtheschool'sdoctrines
intosystematicshapeandtopressthelogicoftheschool'svisiontoits
farthestconclusions;lowflyers tendtoconcentratemoreonparticular
issues.High-flyingWilsonianslookforgrandprogramsofinternational
lawandworldfederalism;lower-flyingWilsoniansmightbemoreinter-
estedinspecificenvironmentalorfeministprogramsorideas.
Theseareonlysomeofthemoreprominentsubgroupsintheschools.
Americanpoliticsislikea largesheetofpapercoveredwithmillionsof
tinyironfilings. Itseemstomethatmanyofthesefilingslineupin
interestingpatterns,patternsthatleadmetohypothesizetheexistenceof
fourpowerfulmagnetslyingunderthepaper.Butnotallthefilingsfall
intoneatlypatternedlines.Someofthemareoutsidetheeffectivepower
ofmyhypotheticalmagnets;someofthefilingsareundertheinfluence
ofmorethanonemagnet.Somehavebecomemagnetizedthemselvesand
formedlittleclumpsthatexercisetheirowninfluenceonthesurround-
ingspace.Someliewherethecompetingforcesofdifferentmagnetscan-
celeachotherout.Andthen,becausemyfilingsareonlyametaphorand
weareactuallytalkingaboutpeopleandpoliticalgroupsratherthan
inertmetal,someoftheobjectsonthepaperignorethemagnetshypo-
theticalorotherwise,andgetupandwalkaroundontheirown.
Readerswillhavetojudgeforthemselveswhetherenoughofthe
filingslineupwithenoughofthemagnetsenoughofthetimetomake
thistheoryuseful,butwhateverthemeritsofthe"fourschools"theory
ofAmericanforeignpolicy,atleastithelpsexplainwhythecriticsof
Americanforeignpolicyattackfromsomany,andfromsuchincompati-
ble,directions.IfwethinkofAmericanforeignpolicyastheproductof
fourdifferentschoolsofthought,withdifferentschoolsandcombina-
tionsofschoolsinchargetovaryingdegreesatdifferentmomentsin
time,thecontradictorycriticismiseasytounderstand.Wheneverone
schoolisinthecaptain'schair,theotherthreeschoolswillbediscon-
tented,anda babbleofcompeting,contradictorycriticismwillbeheard.
Therewill,however,beonemoredomesticnoteofdiscord.SinceAmeri-
canforeignpolicyisusuallya compromise,thepuristsofthedominant
school-andpuristsareoftenthemostactiveandeloquentofwritersand
alsoforsomereasonoftenendupwithchipsontheirshoulders.andtime
ontheirhands-willalsobedissatisfied.Eachofthefourschoolswill
lookbackattherecordandfindthatAmericanforeignpolicyhasrarely
ifeverliveduptothevisionthatanimatesitsviews.Addtothiscauldron