XlI Foreworddoes have enormous additional room inwhich to maneuverin the
twenty-firstcentury,itscarcelyhasa blankslateonwhichtowritea new
foreign policy. He perceives certain fundamental characteristics or
themes inourstancetowardinternationalquestions,themesthat,he
argues,remainaspowerfultodayastheyhavebeeninthepast. Meadis
persuasivewhenheassertsthatoneofthebestwaystocomprehendour
currentchoicesanddeterminepossibleresponsesistoreflectupon the
abidingstrainsinourforeignpoliciesoverthepasttwohundredyears.In
otherwords,MeadusesAmericanhistoryas a lensforsharpeningour
perceptionsabourthepresentandthefuture. Heexplainstheway in
whichAmericanforeignpolicyhasalwaysechoeddeeplyheldandlast-
ingnotionsaboutboththeoutsideworldandournationalinterests.
SurveyingtherecordofAmericandiplomacy,Meadpositsfourprin-
cipalschoolsofthought,identifyingthemwithfourgreatindividual
Americans-Hamilton,Jefferson,Jackson,andWilson.Heemphasizes,
ofcourse,thatthebalanceamongtheclustersofviewsrepresentedby
thesefourschoolshasshiftedovertime,usuallyinresponsetochangesin
theworld.Still,Meadconvincinglycontendsthatthesharperourunder-
standingofthesefourapproaches,thebetterwewillgraspAmerican
reactions topastandfutureforeign policychallenges. Moreover,our
flexibility,asrepresentedbytheshiftinginfluenceofeachschool,has,in
Mead'sview,beena continuingsourceofstrengthforus.And,whether
oneisincompleteagreementwithhimornot,Mead'sworkiscertainto
provokefreshthinkingaboutAmerica'scurrentandfutureforeignpolicy
debates.
Throughthisbookandothers,TheCenturyFoundationisattempting
tocontributetothereexaminationofAmericanforeignpolicythathas
beentakingplacesincetheendoftheColdWar.Oureffortsinthisarea
beganwitha firsthandreportontheeventsleadingtothecollapseofthe
BerlinWall:ElizabethPond'sreport,AftertheWall,whichwasfollowed
a fewyearslaterbyherfull-lengthstudyforus,BeyondtheWall. Inthe
earlypost-ColdWaryears,wealsopublishedRichardUllman'sSecuring
Europe,JamesChace'sTheConsequencesofPeace,JonathanDean'sEnding
Europe'sWars,MichaelMandelbaum'sTheDawnofPeaceinEurope,John
GerardRuggie'sWinningthe Peace: AmericaandWorldOrderina New
Era,andStevenBurg'sWarorPeace?Nationalism, Democracy,andAmeri-
canForeignPolicyinPost-CommunistEurope. Wealsosupportednumerous
analysesofAmerica'sforeignpolicytowardnationsinotherpartsofthe
world,itstraderelations,itsarmsandintelligencepolicies,anditsrela-