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

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policing the behaviorofAmericanbusinessmen and othersoverseas.
Womenservingasindependentprofessionalsorwivesofaccreditedmis-
sionarieswereoftentheonlywomenofEuropeanstockina particular
cityorarea;theyseta socialandmoraltoneforrespectableexpatriates,
whilethemissionarycommunitygenerallyconsidereditselfresponsible
forthecareofthesoulsofAmericansoverseas.Americanmerchants,who
ofcourseoftensawnocontradictionbetweentheireconomicactivities
andtheirspiritualvalues,wereincludedinchurchandmissionaryactivi-
ties. Missionariesplayed a role in thespreadofsuch institutionsas
RotaryInternationalandtheYMCA.
Improvededucationalopportunityoftenstruckthemissionariesasan
importantweapon.Offeringeducationtobrightyoungpeoplewould
givemissionariesanopportunitytomoldtheimpressionablemindsof
a newgenerationofleadersandwouldwinthemthegoodwillofthe
parents.Educationwouldexposetheyoungpeopletothenineteenth-
century synthesis offaith, science, morality, and political economy
thatthemissionariesthemselvesbelievedtobethelastwordinhuman
affairs.Thedevelopmentofeducationbecameoneofthehallmarksof
AmericanChristianmissions.Eventoday,someofthemostfamousand
prestigiousinstitutionsoflearningintheMiddleEastaremissionary
foundations,includingRobertCollegeinTurkeyandtheAmericanUni-
versityofBeirut. Before 1949 the Americanmissionary networkin
Chinasupportedmanyofthatcountry'sstrongestandmostoutward-
lookinguniversities,aswellasa largeprogrampromotingChinesestudy
intheUnitedStates.Themissionarycollegesanduniversitiesrecruited
scholarsfromtheUnitedStatesinmanyfieldsbesidesreligiousstudies,
andmanyofthesecampusesbecamethenurseriesofthepoliticalmove-
ments that wouldshape thestruggleofthenon-Western worldfor
politicalandculturalindependenceinthetwentiethandtwenty-first
centuries.
Themissionarymovementplayeda majorroleinthedevelopmentof
internationalcivilsociety.ItcanbedifficultforAmericanstoday,usedto
the bitteralienation that now existsbetween organizationslike the
NationalOrganizationforWomen(NOW),forexample,andmuchof
theconservativeCatholicandevangelicalcommunities,toappreciatethe
closehistoricallinkbetweenmanyoftoday'ssecularcivilsocietyorga-
nizationsandthe missionarymovement. Therewas atimewhenthe
supplehandsofa WoodrowWilsoncouldthumptogetherthetwotubs
that more recentlyhave been thumpedseparately by Pat Robertson