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

"VindicatorOnlyof HerOwn" 197

ToensurethatAmericandiplomatsabroadrememberedtheirrepub-

licanroots,Jeffersonianslimitedtheirnumberandwereanythingbut

extravagantinmakingprovisionforthem. Aslateas 1916 theentire

budgetfor the DepartmentofState, including janitorial staffinits

Washingtonheadquarters,cameto $6million.^34 Andthetraditionof

relative meanness indiplomatic budgets continues. In 1999 Philip

Lader,theAmericanambassadortoBritain,hada salaryabourhalfthat

ofBritain's ambassadortotheUnitedStates.Congressional refusal to

allocateanadequaterepresentationallowanceisonereasonwhymanyof

themostprominentU.S.diplomaticpostsarereservedforwealthycam-

paigncontributorswhocanpaythecostsofwininganddiningforeign

elitesoutoftheirownpockets.Suchcongressionalpenny-pinchingon

thediplomaticbudgetwaswidelyblamedforleavingAmericanembas-

sies inAfricadangerouslyexposedtoterroristattackslikethosethat

killed 223 peopleattheembassiesinKenyaandTanzaniain1998.35At

a timeofcriticaleconomicnegotiationswithChina,whentheChinese

tradesurpluswiththeUnitedStateswasoneoftheleadingissuesin

Americanforeignpolicy,thestaffoftheeconomicsectionoftheU.S.

EmbassyinBeijingdidnotevenhaveafaxmachine,muchlessthecom-

putersandsoftwareneededtomonitordevelopmentsthere.^36

YetJeffersoniansareunwillingtocutthediplomatsoffcompletely.

True,secretdiscussionsanddecisionsamonga champagne-drinkingelite

inforeignballroomsarehardlytheJeffersonians'preferredmethodfor

thesettlementofgreatissuesofstate.OntheotherhandJeffersonians

agreestronglywithWinstonChurchillthat"tojaw-jawisbetterthanto

war-war."Aneffectivediplomacycanbeaneffectivemeansofstavingoff

worseevils,andfrom JeffersonforwardsomeofAmerica'smosteffective

ballroommincershavebeenJeffersoniandemocrats.

JeffersonianStrategicIdeas

Basedontheircorevaluesandideasaboutthenationalinterest,Jef-
fersonianshavepurforwarda varietyofsuggestionsforAmericangrand
strategy.Ascircumstanceshavechanged,Jeffersonianstrategicconcepts
havechanged,burasinthecaseofHamiltonianandWilsonianideas,
JeffersonianapproachestoAmericanforeignpolicycontinuallyseekto
advancea coresetofinterestsandvaluesfromonegenerationtothenext.
InallofthefourmajorerasofAmericanforeignpolicy(1789-1823,
1823-1914,1914-1947,1947-present),Jeffersonianshaveattempted