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

"VindicatorOnlyofHerOwn" 175

understood.Thisisnatural.HamiltonianandWilsonianvaluesareuni-
versal,andbothHamiltoniansandWilsonianswanttheUnitedStates
bothtobuildaninternationalorderandtomakedomesticconcessions
andchangesforthesakeofthatorder.Theybelieveinreciprocity;ifthey
wanttheworldtobecomemoreliketheUnitedStates,theyalsowant
theUnitedStatestoaccommodatebettertotherestoftheworld.
JeffersoniansandJacksonianswouldbehappyiftherestoftheworld
becamemoreliketheUnitedStates,thoughtheydon'tfindthislikely.
Theyresist,however,anythoughtoftheUnitedStatesbecomingmore
liketherestoftheworld.IftheUnitedStatesmakesevensuchtrivial
concessionstointernationalorderasadoptingthemetricsystem,itwill
bebecauseofHamiltonianandWilsonianefforts.Inverydifferentways
JeffersoniansandJacksoniansbelievethatthespecificcultural,social,
andpoliticalheritageoftheUnitedStatesisa precioustreasuretobe
conserved,defended,andpassedontofuturegenerations;theycelebrate
whattheyseeastheunique,anduniquelyvaluable,elementsofAmeri-
canlifeandbelievethattheobjectofforeignpolicyshouldbetodefend
thosevaluesathomeratherthantoextendthemabroad.
SincetheendoftheColdWar,theconcernsandvaluesofHamiltoni-
ansandWilsonianshavebeenatthecenteroftheformationofAmerican
foreignpolicy.UnderboththefirstBushandtheClintonpresidency,the
constructionofa globaltradingsystemandtheextensionofdemocracy
werethecentralthemesofAmericanforeignpolicy.
TomanyobserversintheUnitedStatesandabroad,thewidespread
oppositionin theUnitedStatesto this post-ColdWar consensus is
bothdistastefulanddifficulttounderstand.Puzzlingly,theJeffersonian-
JacksonianoppositiontomainstreamAmericanforeignpolicycutsoddly
acrossideologicalandpoliticallines.TheAFL-CIOandliberalactivists
like RalphNader joined with arch-conservative Pat Buchanan and
quirkypopulistslikeRossPerotinattackingfree trade initiativeslike
theWorldTradeOrganizationtreatiesandthetreatiesthatestablished
NAFTA.Neo-MarxistsjoinedwithneoconservativestoopposeAmeri-
caninvolvementinhumanitarianinterventionsintheformerYugoslavia;
NoamChomsky!mannedthebarricadeswithRichardPerletokeepour
boysoutofKosovo.
Theconventionaldistinctionsbetweenisolationistandintervention-
ist,realistandidealist,hawksanddoves,andevenpopulistandelitist
approaches don'tadequatelydescribetheoppositiontothedominant
post-ColdWarforeignpolicy;nordotheyhelpusunderstandthepoten-