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

118 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

policywasa simplematter,andsomethingLordBrycecouldunderstand:
StaystrongenoughtoensurethatBritainrespectedAmericanrights,and
otherwise,stayoutofEuropeanpolitics.
AslongasBritainwasstrong,theUnitedStatescouldpursuethis
policyata lowcost.Beyondtheneedsofthewesternfrontier,theUnited
Statesrequiredonlya navy,andformuchofthenineteenthcentury,even
thiswaslargelyneglected,withnoterribleresults.Thissystemworked
bestfortheUnitedStatesbeforetheCivilWar.AtthattimeonlyBritain
andRussiaweresignificantpowersbeyondtheconfinesofEurope.The
DutchandPortugueseempiresinAfricaandAsiawereoflittleconcern
orinteresttotheUnitedStates,theGermanshadnocolonies,andthe
FrenchwereconcernedonlywiththeMediterranean.
Theexternalsituationbegantochangelateinthenineteenthcentury,
andHamiltonianthinkingevolvedalongwithit.FirstFranceandthen
Germanyestablished thefoundationsofglobalempires. TheFrench,
whoverymuchwantedtheConfederacytosucceed,usedtheCivilWar
torevivetheoldschemeofinstallinga EuropeanprinceonanAmerican
throne,brieflyestablishingtheunfortunateHapsburgarchdukeMaxi-
milianinMexicoCity.Thisadventureendedindisaster,butFrenchsol-
diersandsailorsmovedintoAsiaandtheSouthPacific.Moreominously,
GermanyestablisheditselfinAfricaandChina;oneallegedmotivefor
theAmericanannexationofthePhilippineswas topreventthekaiser
fromtakingtheislands.7 Worsestillfrom theAmericanperspective,
GermanimmigrationandGermantradewerebeginningtoestablishthe
GermansasrivalstotheBritishinthesouthernconeofLatinAmerica.
Thescorpionswerescramblingoutofthebottle,andtheBritishno
longerseemedabletokeepthemcontained.
Asthenineteenthcenturydrewtoitsclose,Hamiltoniansbeganto
worryseriouslyaboutinternationalrelations.Twonightmarescenarios
troubledmilitaryplannersandgavepublicistsammunitionforincreased
campaignstoenlargethearmedforces.OntheonehandGermanymight
succeedinoverturningthebalanceofpowerinEurope,andbecomeso
powerfulbylandandseathattheUnitedStateswouldhavetofighta
long,hardstruggleagainstit.Germanyhadalreadymadeit clearthatit
hadnavalambitions;itwantedto bea worldpower, nota European
power.AGermanytriumphantinEuropewouldbea formidableand
expansionistrival.
Therewasanother,evenmorefrighteningpossibility,however.Britain's
questfornewforeignpolicyoptionsasitsrelativepowerdeclinedmight