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

122 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

modatethelargestshipsintheworld.ThismeantthattheAmerican
navyenjoyedenormousadvantagescomparedwiththenaviesofother
powersandcouldprojectpowerintoboththeAtlanticandPacificOceans
muchmoreeasily-andcheaply-thananyotherstate.Combinedwith
thegrowingpopulationonthePacificcoastanda stringofoutpostsand
basesacrossthePacific,thecanalgavetheUnitedStatesa guaranteed
advantageinthecomingcompetitiontobenefitfromthepossibilitiesof
tradewithwhatwouldonedaycometobecalledthePacificRim.
Yet these triumphs inPanamaandelsewhere did notmake the
UnitedStatesmoresecure.ThesamerelativedeclineofBritishpower
thatenabledUncleSamtotreatJohnBullsounceremoniouslyinthe
NewWorldhadconsequencesintheOld.ThereGermanywastherising
power.Germanscientistsweredevelopingnewtechnologiesfasterthan
theBritish;Germanindustrialistsweredeveloping newmethodsand
productsthattheBritishcouldnotmatch;Germanmerchantsweredriv-
ingtheBritishfrommarketaftermarketaroundtheworld.
Germany'snewprominenceintheworldwentbeyondeconomics:
Germanywasdevelopingarmedforcesthat,potentially,coulddominate
Europe. Evenworse,Germanysoughtnewcoloniesanddependencies
abroad. GermanmerchantsappearedinChina;Germanagentsstaked
claims inAfrica; GermanbankersappearedinLatinAmerica.Worse
still:Germansreadtheworksontheimportanceofseapowerbythe
AmericanrearadmiralAlfredThayerMahan;Germanydecidedthatnei-
theritscoloniesnoritstradecouldbesecureunlessithada navythat
rivaledBritain's.
Inanothertroublingsign,theextremelyrapidgrowthofJapanese
powerindicatedthatworldhistorywasmovingintoa newphase.For
twocenturies,European nationshadenjoyedsuch technologicaland
commercialadvantagesthat non-Europeanpeopleshad scarcelybeen
able tofigure in worldpolitics. The comforting notion had spread
throughEuropeancivilizationthatthecausesofthissuperioritywere
racial:thatyellow,brown,andblackhumanbeingsweresimplyinca-
pableofmasteringthetechnologicalsecretsofwhitecivilization.
Japan'sdefeatofRussiaatthedawnofthetwentiethcenturysignaled
thedefinitivedefeatofsuchracialtheories.TheEuropeannationsand
theirdaughterstatesaroundtheworldwouldhavetocometoterms
withthemoral,political,andeconomicclaimsofnonwhitepeoplesas
thesegroupsmasteredWesterntechnologiesandsoughtredressoftheir
manygnevances.