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

150 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

tothemissionaries,allowingthemtooperateschoolsandpreachfreelyin
Korea,helpedreconcileAmericanopiniontoJapan'sbrutaloccupation
ofthatcountry,whileitwasmissionaryaccountsofJapan'sbrutalityin
ChinathatdecisivelyturnedAmericanopinionagainstJapaneseexpan-
sioninAsia,settingthestageforthePacificphaseofWorldWarII.After
thewarGeneralMacArthur'sreconstructionofJapanwasessentiallyan
implementationofthemissionaryprogramatthepointofbayonets.The
traditionalrulergaveuphisclaimtodivinity;freedomofreligionwas
established;feudalismwasabolishedandlanddistributedtothepeas-
ants;womenwereemancipated;a Western,democraticsystemofgov-
ernmentwasintroduced;freedomofthepresswasgranted;tradeunions
werelegalized,and warwasoutlawed. Withoutthe longmissionary
experienceAmericanswouldhavehadneitherthechutzpahortheknow-
howthatcharacterizedtheoccupationinJapan,a foreignpolicyventure
thatdespitealltheattendantcontroversyis generallyconsideredoneof
themostimportantandsuccessfulinitiativesinAmericanhistory.
AlthoughtheAmericanJewishcommunitydidnotsharetheprosely-
tizingzealofitsChristianneighbors,AmericanJewsengagedina sub-
stantialprogramofoverseasreliefandaidforJewsabroadand,oftenin
associationwithChristianmissionaries andphilanthropists, beganto
exertinfluenceinnineteenth-centuryAmericanpoliticstoensurethat
theUnitedStatesplaceditsdiplomaticweightbehindeffortstoprotect
Jewishcommunitiesabroadfrom persecution.ShortlyaftertheCivil
War,whenthenewlyindependentRomaniansbegantocelebratetheir
independencefromOttomanoppressionbypersecutingRomanianJews,
theHayesadministrationsentanAmericanJew,EugeneSchuyler,to
serveasconsulinRomaniawithspecialinstructionstosupportRoma-
nianJews. Americandiplomatsalsoregularlyprotestedthemistreat-
mentofRussianJews.AmericanrevulsionatRussiananti-Semitismand
absoluterulewasoneofthepowerfulargumentsadvancedagainstU.S.
interventiononthesideoftheAlliesinWorldWarI;asithappened,the
UnitedStatesenteredthewaronlyaftertheFebruaryrevolutionforced
NicholasII'sabdicationandanendtothefeudaltsaristregime.

B

eyondtheinfluencetheyexercisedonAmericanpolicytoward

particularcountries,themissionarycommunityandtheirfriends,

supporters,andotherswhosharedtheirvaluesbackintheUnitedStates

alsosoughttodevelopbroadconceptsforAmericanforeignpolicyin