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

8 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

establishmentjustlypridesitselfonitsknowledgeofthehistoriesand
culturesofthemanypeoplesandnationswithwhichAmericanforeign
policyhashadtodeal.Itisonlythehistoryofourforeignpolicybefore
WorldWarIIthatliesburiedinobscurity.
Thewidespreadindifferencetoanddisdainforthathistoryis,atleast
onthefaceofthings,somewhatsurprising.TheUnitedStateshashada
remarkablysuccessfulhistoryininternationalrelations. Aftera rocky
start,theyoungAmericanrepublicquicklyestablisheditselfasa forceto
bereckonedwith.TheRevolutionariesshrewdlyexploitedthetensions
inEuropeanpoliticstobuilda coalitionagainstGreatBritain.Artful
diplomatic pressureand the judicious applicationofincentives and
threatsenabledtheUnitedStatestoemergefromtheNapoleonicWars
withtherichestspoilsofanynation-theLouisianaPurchaseroseonthe
ruinsofNapoleon'shopesforaNewWorldempire.Duringthesubse-
quentdecades, Americandiplomacymanaged tooutmanueverGreat
BritainandtheContinentalpowersonanumberofoccasions,annexing
Florida,extendingitsboundarytothePacific,openingJapantoworld
commerce,thwartingBritisheffortstoconsolidatetheindependenceof
Texas,andconqueringtheSouthwestfromMexicodespitethereserva-
tionsoftheEuropeanpowers.
DuringtheCivilWar,deftAmericandiplomacydefeatedrepeated
effortsbypowerfulelementsinbothFranceandBritaintointerveneon
behalfofConfederateindependence.TheUnitedStatesdemonstrateda
surediplomatictouchduringtheconflict,prudentlygivinginoverthe
seizureofConfederatecommissionersfroma BritishshipintheTrent
affair,butfirmlyforcinga reluctantGreatBritaintoobservetheprinci-
plesofneutralityandtopaycompensationfortheirviolationinthecon-
troversiesoverConfederateshipsbuiltbyBritishfirms.
Withina generationaftertheCivilWar,theUnitedStatesbecamea
recognizedworldpowerwhileestablishinganunchallengedhegemony
intheWesternHemisphere.AstoAmericaninterventioninWorldWar
I,itwasa failureonlycomparedtotheloftygoalsWilsonsetforhimself.
TheUnitedStatesfailedtoendwarforeverandtoestablisha universal
democraticsystem-challenginggoals,tosaytheleast-butotherwise
itdidverywell.Withfewercasualtiesthananyothergreatpower,and
fewerforcesonthegroundinEurope,theUnitedStateshada dispropor-
tionatelyinfluentialroleinshapingthepeace.Monarchicalgovernment
inEuropedisappearedasa resultofthewar:Since 1918 Europehasbeen
a continentofrepublics,andthegreatthronesandroyalhousesthatonce