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

ChapterFour

THE SERPENT AND

THE DOVE

TheHamiltonianWay

iSiSBeye,"Christtoldhisdisciples,"wiseasserpents,andinnocent
asdoves."This,likesomuchoftheadviceintheBible,isboth
eminentlysensibleanddamnedhardtofollow.ThecraftofMachiavelli
is anuncomfortableguestinthebosomofSaintFrancis.
Inforeignpolicythemeaningofthisinjunctionisrelativelyclear:
Statesmenshouldpursuetheirgoalswiththesinuouspragmatismofthe
wilyserpent,yettheirpurposesoughttobeashumaneandpeaceableas
thosethatlegendattributestothedove.
InAmericanforeignpolicy,theserpentsandthedovesseemgenerally
tobemingled.Thetendencytodivideourstatesmenintorealisticser-
pentsand idealisticdoves oftenmisses thebalancebetweenthe two
qualitiesthatourbeststatesmenmaintainandthattosomedegreeis
intrinsictoAmericanrealism.ManywholookattheHamiltoniantradi-
tionofstatesmanshipandseeitscommercialorientation,itsabsenceof
illusionsaboutthefrailtiesofhumannature,anditswillingnesstocon-
sidersuchmorallypainfulideasasthebalanceofpowerandtheuseof
forceininternationalrelations,identifytheHamiltoniantraditionwith
the-presumably-realisticandunsentimentalphilosophyofthesnake.
Whenoneconsiders,ontheotherhand,theWilsonians'professedfaith
inhumannature,thestrongcommitmenttohumanrights,andtheper-