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

126 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

ethcentury-thetwoworldwarsandtheColdWar-canbegrouped
togetherasthewarsof theBritishsuccession,asGermany,Japan,the
SovietUnion,andtheUnitedStatesscrambledtoinherittheBritish
mantle.
FromthisperspectivetheUnitedStateshadthreegreatachievements
toitscreditinthetwentiethcentury:assistinginthedismantlingofthe
decayingfabricoftheoldempire,seeingoffthechallengesfromGer-
many,Japan,andtheSovietUnion,andbuildinga newinternational
ordertosupport theAmericansystem thatreplacedGreatBritainas
whatColonelHousecalled"thegyroscopeofworldorder."
Duringthiscenturyofrapidinternationalchangeandgreatdanger,
HamiltonianideasinformedmanyofthekeydecisionstheUnitedStates
made.Accustomedtothinkingona globalscale,familiarwiththeeco-
nomicandpoliticalinstitutionsthatundergirdedtheBritishEmpire,
HamiltonianswerequicktograsptheimplicationsforAmericaninter-
estsofBritishdecline,andtheyunderstoodhowtobuilda newhege-
monyastheoldonecollapsed.
ThedismantlingoftheBritishEmpiretransformedthecontextin
which Americanforeign policywasmade andthoughtabout.Before
1945 theworldorderwasmoreorlessa given,towhichAmericanstates-
menreactedinvariousways.Sincethenithasbeeninlargepartboththe
creationandtheresponsibilityofAmericanstatesmen.Ontheonehand
theUnitedStateshashadtogetalongwithoutJohnBull'sassistance.As
a resultforeignpolicyhasbeenmoreburdensomeanddangeroussince
1945.Ontheotherhand,Americahad theopportunitytoshape the
worldinaccordancewithitsowninterestsandvalues.
Theconsequencesofthefallof theBritishEmpireforAmericanpoli-
ticsand policywere so profoundthatthey have ledmany tosee an
unbridgeablechasmbetweenAmericanforeignpolicybeforeandafter
Britain'sfall.ThisistherealitybehindthemythoftheAmericancom-
ingofage-thatafter 1945 Americanforeignpolicymakersentereda
newworld.
But,thoughobviouslytruetoa certainextent,focusingtooexclu-
sivelyonthedifferencesbetweenthenewandoldworldsblindsusto
theimportantcontinuitieslinkingtheeras.Furthermore,itignoresthe
extenttowhichthedismantlingoftheBritishEmpirewassomething
that,atleastpartially,Americansdid-anddidonpurpose.RobertSki-
delskysubtitledthethirdvolumeofhismagnificentbiographyofJohn
MaynardKeynesBattlingforBritain,inreferencetoKeynes'seffortsto