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

204 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

dendsatthelowestpoliticalandmilitarycost.Forthreegenerationsthe
MonroesystemmetbasicAmericansecurityneedswhileallowingthe
Americanpeopletoescapemuchofthecostofgreat-powerpolitics.
Unfortunately,asBritishpowerbegantoweaken,Americanstatesmen
wereforcedto movebeyondtheMonroesystem.Froma Jeffersonian
pointofviewnothingsincehasworkedaswell.Thereissomethingtobe
saidforthisview.TheUnitedStatesspentverylittleondefensein 1900
butwasverysecure.Onehundredyearslaterwespendfarmorethanany
countryintheworldondefense,andarenomoresecurethanwewere.

TheGreatDilemma

AlthoughJeffersoniansweretraditionallyfarmoresuspiciousofthe
BritishthanwereeitherWilsoniansor Hamiltonians,thedeclineandfall
oftheBritishEmpirepresentedJeffersonianswithmoreseriouschal-
lengesthantheonesfacedbythoseglobalschools.Accustomedtoseeing
foreignpolicyasakindoffieldofdreams,bothHamiltoniansandWilso-
niansmadea relativelyeasytransitionfromcooperatingwithBritainto
replacingit.
NosucheasyoptionexistedforJeffersonians.AnAmericaneffortto
setupa globalsystemtoreplaceGreatBritainis,onthefaceofthings,a
verybadchoicefroma Jeffersonianpointofview.Aglobalhegemon
leadsa hardandbusylife.ArethetribesrevoltinginKabul?Isa coup
brewinginManila?IspiracyontheupswingintheSouthChinaSea?Are
ArabsbombingIsraelis(orviceversa)intheHolyLand?
Aglobalhegemonmustdetermineifanyofthethousandsofcrises
thatoccurinanyrandomdecadeposea threattothehegemonicorder.
Moreover, evenifthehegemondecides that,thistime, therevoltof
thisparticulartribalgroupinthisparticularsectorofthehinterlands
ofKabuldoesnotrequireanarmedresponse,forcesmuststillbemain-
tained in reserve thatare capable ofacting in Afghanistan, Korea,
Somalia,orTaiwan.
Meanwhile,tothecapitalofa globalhegemoncometherepresenta-
tivesofeverypoweronearth,manyarmedwiththemeansofbribery.
(Herod,Jugurtha,Mithridates,Cleopatra-allwenttoRomeorsent
theirplenipotentiaries.)Oncetherethevisitorsseekbyfairmeansorfoul
towinhegemonicbackingfortheirvariousschemes.Bribingthepress,
bribingpoliticians,offeringlucrativecontractstopowerfulcompaniesin