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

162 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

MuchofthehistoryofthiscenturywillconsistoftheeffortsofWilsoni-
ansintheUnitedStatesandtheiralliesandkindredspiritsabroadto
realizethevisionofuniversalbrotherhoodandpeace.

WilsonianGrandStrategy

Justas Hamiltoniansdevelopeda setofbasicideasabouthowto

defineanddefendthenationalinterests,WilsoniansthroughAmerican

historyhaveworkedfroma basicsetofideasaboutAmericanforeign

policy.AndwhileWilsonianforeignpolicyconceptscontainmuchthat

realistsfind hardtoswallow, thecorestrategicideasoftheWilsonian

communityareneitherasimpracticalnorascontradictoryastheircritics

oftenallege.Theirlogicispowerful;theWilsonianapproachtonational

securityhasmuchtorecommendit,andtheWilsonianelementinour

foreignpolicyhasmadesubstantialcontributionstothegrowthofthe

nation'spower.

ThefirstprincipleofWilsonianforeignpolicyis thatdemocracies

makebetterandmorereliablepartnersthanmonarchiesandtyrannies.

Farfromnaive,thisperspectiverestsona sophisticatedunderstandingof

political dynamics. Nonrepresentational governments are unreliable

partnersforseveralreasons.Wecanstartbycitingroyalcaprice.In1756,

LouisXVwaswidelybelievedtohavegonetowarwithFrederickthe

Greattoavengehimselffora seriesofinsultsthatthePrussianmonarch

permittedhimselfattheexpenseoftheFrenchking'smattresseentitre.

(Frederick, for example, named the dog thatshared hisbed "Pom-

padour.")2oTothisaddsuccessionpolitics:InHanoverianEngland,the

PrinceofWaleswasalmostalwaysatpoliticaloddswiththeKing.A

powerwhosepolicycanchangewitha deathora marriageishardlythe

mostreliableoffriends.Again,FredericktheGreat'scareerisinstructive:

HisthronewassavedatthehourofdefeatwhentheRussianczarina

ElizabethwasreplacedbyherweakandPrussophileheir,Peter.Thiswas

the"miracleoftheHouseofBrandenburg"thatJosefGoebbelsthought

ofwhenheheardofFranklinRoosevelt'sdeath,andrushedexcitedlyto

telltheFiihrerthenews.ButasHitlerandGoebbelsdiscovered,demo-

craticgovernmentsarelesspronetorapidreversalsthanareautocratic

systems.

Thisisonlythesurfaceoftheargument.Nonrepresentativepolities

areunstablenotsimplybecausetheirrulerscanbeerratic.Theyareun-