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

TheSerpentandtheDove I 19

takeitawayfromitsspecialrelationshipwiththeUnitedStates.Before
WorldWarI,Britainwasworking tobuildanAnglo-japanesenaval
alliance.TheUnitedStatesworriedthatBritainandjapanwouldagree
todivideupChinabetweenthemselves,andtheUnitedStateswouldbe
helplesstopreventit.InthelongrunthiswouldcreatetheAmerican
nightmareofa strongjapanthatcouldattackthePhilippines,Hawaii,
andultimatelythewestcoast.Theworst-caseAmericanscenarioatthe
timewasthatBritaincouldformanalliancewithGermanyinEurope,
alongwithjapaninAsia.Thisgangofthreecouldthendivideupthe
oldworldamongthemselvesanywaytheywished.InPhilipDru:Admin-
istrator, theodd, best-sellingnovelbyWoodrowWilson'sclosestWash-
ingtonfriend andconfidant, ColonelEdwardM. House, exactlythis
nightmarecametopass.

HamiltonianPolicyintheTwentiethCentury

DespitethesedangersHamiltonianswereinanexpansiveandconfi-
dentmoodatthedawnofthetwentiethcentury.Thedecliningpowerof
BritainincreasedBritishdependenceonitsspecialrelationshipwiththe
UnitedStates.BritaingrewincreasinglydeferentialtoAmericanviews
abouttheWesternHemisphere.Britishdeclinealsoaffordednewscope
aswellas newnecessityfortheUnitedStatestoactasa globalpower,
proppingBritainupwhilereapingincreasedcommercialandpolitical
benefitsfromthespecialrelationship.
ThesetwotrendsinHamiltonianthinkingpointedtothesameplace:
theIsthmusofPanama,whereanAmericanrailroadhadconnectedthe
AtlanticandthePacificsincethedaysoftheCaliforniagoldrush.
ThecreationandthecontrolofanIsthmiancanalofferedimmense
advantagestothenationabletoachievethem.MostAmericanstoday
haveveryhazyideasaboutthefactsofmaritimegeography.Thisispartly
becauseofthedominanceofairtravel,andpartlybecausethePanama
Canalhasrevisedmaritimegeographysofarinourfavor. Withoutthe
PanamaCanal,SanFranciscoiscloserbyseatoLondonthanitistoNew
York.(Braziljutssofaroutinto theAtlanticthatshipsboundfromNew
YorkforCapeHornmustsailfartotheeast.ShipsfromwesternEurope
actuallyhavea moredirectandshorterroute.)Withoutthecanal,boats
inBritainwerebetterpositionedtoreachChinaandCaliforniathanwere
thoseontheeastcoastoftheUnitedStates.WithittheUnitedStates