100 SPEC!AL PROVIDENCEsistentdreamofa worldofnation-statesunitedbytheirdevotiontothe
ideasoflibertyandtheirdetestationofwar,thereis a tendencytoiden-
tifytheWilsoniancausewiththeemblemofthedove.
Neitherschoolisreallythatsimple.BeneaththeHamiltonianpin-
stripesbeatstheheartofa romanticdreamer;whilethehighidealsofthe
Wilsoniancanconceala soberand,attimes,evena mean-spiritedcalcu-
lationofnational,ethnic,andfactionalinterest.BothschoolsofAmeri-
canforeignpolicyarehardfortheuntutoredtoread;bothendlessly
confuseforeignobservers;bothdealwithideasandvisionsthatdonotfit
the traditionalconcernsandassumptionsofEuropeanpoliticsinthe
worldofRichelieuandMetternich.
Ofthetwoschools, theHamiltonianmaybethemoredeceptive.
UnwaryEuropeandiplomatsinthecompanyofHamiltonianthinkers
likeHenryCabotLodgeSr. ortheelderGeorgeBushmaythinkthat
theyaredealingwithmenwhoinhabitthesameintellectualuniverse
thattheydo:HamiltoniansspeakthelanguageofContinentalrealism.
Phraseslike"thenationalinterest"and"thebalanceofp<?wer"areoften
ontheirtongues.Speakingverybroudly,asa grouptheyofteneither
comefromorworkfor theclassofpeople intheUnitedStateswho
mostresembletheupperclassesofEuropeansociety;theyhavereadthe
samebooksastheirEuropeancounterparts,studiedthesamesubjectsat
school,heard(ifmusicallyinclined)thesameoperas,andholdsimilar
opinionsonmanysubjects.
FromtheearliestyearsoftheRepublic,Hamiltonianshaveinstinc-
tivelyfeltthattheintellectualprocessthroughwhichtheUnitedStates
woulddevelopitsforeign policywas essentiallythesameprocessany
statewouldemploy:Itwouldconsideritsinterests,take stockofits
strengthsanditsweaknesses,anddevelopa policythatwouldsafeguard
thoseinterestswithinthelimitsofitsresources.Thissimilarintellectual
processhasled-ormisled-manyobserverstoconfusetheHamiltonian
foreign policytraditionwithContinentalrealism. Infact, traditional
Hamiltonianthoughtonforeignpolicyisasdifferentinitswayfromthe
EuropeanmainstreamasWilsonianthought.
ThisisnotbecauseHamiltoniansembracea fundamentallydifferent
viewofhumannaturethandoContinentalforeignpolicyrealists.When
it comes tohuman weaknesses andfoibles, Hamiltonianthought is
unblinking.Unlikesomanyeighteenth-centurypoliticalreformers,the
AmericanFoundingFatherswerenotoriouslyconvincedthathumankind
wasquarrelsomeandgreedy;that,asthepsalmisttellsus,thehuman