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

TheSerpentandtheDove 105

nierthantheEuropeanvariety.DuringmostofAmericanhistory,geog-
raphyanddemographyunitedtoproclaimthat,allthingsbeingequal,
themerepassageoftimewouldmaketheUnitedStatesincreasingly
richer,morepowerful,andbetterrespectedintheworldcommunity.In
thedarkestdaysofthefirsttumultuousdecadesofindependence,and
againinthedepthsoftheCivilWar,Americandiplomatsoperatingin
theHamiltoniantraditioncouldconsolethemselveswiththethought
thattheirworstdifficultiesweretemporary-thatiftheUnitedStates
couldsurvive,itwasdestinedtothrive.Thiswasanassurancethatfew
EuropeandiplomatsoutsideRussia, securein itsvast territoriesand
population,couldshare;othercountriesfacedperennialandperpetual
threatstotheirstatusasgreatpowersoreventotheirindependence.For
theUnitedStates,fearsaboutindependenceandunitywereintermittent
andemergedonlyattimesofgreatcrisis.
Theresultwasanapproachtodiplomacythat,whileitsprangfrom
andoperatedwithinthetraditionalframeworkofEuropeandiplomacy,
waslessdefensiveandmoreoptimistic.Itstartedfromthesamepremises
butmovedtoverydifferentconclusions.Hamiltoniansdidnothaveto
believethattheUnitedStatesmusteitherconquerorbeconqueredin
itsinternationalrelations;theycouldanddidbelievethattheUnited
States,withoutneglectingitsmilitaryforces,wasabletoseekconstruc-
tivecompromisesofmutualbenefitinitsdealingswithforeignpowers.
"Realistic"asitmayhavebeenina formalsense,atthepracticallevel
Hamiltonianforeignpolicywas a radical innovationintheworldof
great-powerdiplomacy.

TheHamiltonianTraditionoftheNationalInterest

Operatingontheintellectualbasisofwhat(todistinguishitfromits
darkerContinentalcousin)canbecalledAmericanrealism,Hamiltonian
thinkersandpoliticiansgraduallydevelopeddistinctivedefinitionsof
Americannationalinterests,andonthestrategiesbestadoptedtosecure
them. Althoughthe bodyofdoctrinehasgrownand developedover
thecenturies,Hamiltonianthoughtalsoshowsa substantialdegreeof
continuity.
Oneoftheearliestandmostimportantoftheseinterests,onethat
occupiedthemindsoftheAmericancolonistsevenbeforetheRevolu-
tion,iswhatcanbecalledthefreedomoftheseas.Initsnarrowestsense