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

170 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

Despitethefears ofpastgenerations,experienceintheUnitedStates
andelsewhereshows therich thattheirgoodsaresafe indemocratic
societies-perhapssafer,sincetransparentlegalsystemserectmoresafe-
guardsbetweentheindividualandstatepower.Wholesocietiescanbe,
andhavebeen,convertedtoWilsonianvalues.
FurthermoretheWilsonianidealis nonsectarian.Thatis,whileithis-
toricallyemergedfromChristianity-andfromProtestant,low-church
Christianityatthat-theWilsonianidealofacommunityofstatesall
runondemocraticlinesisonethatcanactuallybeadoptedbystatesand
culturesthatareneitherProtestantnorevenChristian.Democracycan
beanidealforArgentines,IndiansandJapanese;itcanalsobeonefor
Iranians,manyofwhomhopetoseetheirIslamicrepublicincorporate
morefeaturesoftheWilsonianprogramwhilemaintainingitsIslamic
character.
FortheUnitedStatestobeseenasthemaininternationalsupporter
andavatarofsoeffectiveandseductiveanideologyisclearlya major
advantageininternationalaffairs.Itensures thattosomedegreethe
mostactive,intelligent,andforward-lookingelementsinmanyother
countriesregardtheUnitedStatessympathetically.Whiletheycanand
doopposeAmericandesignsinparticularcases,onthewholebroadsec-
torsoftheactiveandprogressiveclassesinforeigncountrieswillbemore
likelytotolerateandevensupportAmericaninfluenceandpower,and
theywillbeslowtoseeanythingbutbenefitsfromcloserrelationswith
theUnitedStates.
EventhosegovernmentslikeChina's,whichremainanti-Wilsonian,
arehauntedbythepowerandattractionofWilsonianideals.Notevery
generationofChinesestudentswillbuildmodelsoftheStatueofLiberty
onTienanmenSquare,butmanyofChina'sbestandbrightestwillcon-
tinue tosee Wilsonianideas bothdomesticallyand ininternational
societyasthemostbeneficialmeanstoChina'sowngrowthanddevelop-
ment.TheUnitedStatesdoesnotneeda Cominterntospreaditsideas
andbuildpoliticalalliesintherestoftheworld;thenaturalappealof
Wilsonianideastothecontemporaryminddoesthatjobwithoutour
help.
AnotherwayinwhichWilsonianismworkstobuildsupportforthe
UnitedStateswillbefeltmoreinthiscenturythaninthelast:theposi-
tionoftheUnitedStatesasthemostvisibleandpowerfulexampleofa
countrythatbelievesinequalrightsforwomen.Thereis everyreasonto
believethatthiswill bethecenturyofthewoman,withtheriseof