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

250 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

withtheWilsoniandreamofglobalpoliticalorder.TotheJacksonian
ear,theseniorGeorgeBush'scallfora "newworldorder"haddistinctly
Orwellianovertones.ChristianCoalitionfounderPatRobertsontraces
thecallfora newworldordertoa satanicconspiracyconsciouslybeing
implementedbythepillarsoftheAmericanestablishmentY
ThefearthattheEstablishment,linkedtoitscounterpartinBritain
and,throughBritain,toallthecorruptmovementsandelitesoftheOld
World,isrelentlesslyplottingtodestroyAmericanlibertyis anoldand
potentone.Shouldseriouslybadeconomictimesarrive,thereisalways
theprospectthat,witheffectiveleadership,theparanoidelementinthe
Jacksonianworldcouldridepopularangerandpanicintopower.

CodeofHonor

AnotheraspectofJacksonianforeignpolicyisa deepsenseofnational

honoranda correspondingneedtoliveupto,andbeseentoliveupto,

thedemandsofanhonorcode.Somethingsaresodisgustingandcow-

ardlythatwecan'tdothem,andsomeindignitiessodemeaningthatwe

can'tsufferthematthehandsofothers.Honorcompelsustoundertake

somedifficult anddirty jobs, howevermuchwe wouldliketoavoid

them.Thepoliticalimportanceofthiscodeshouldnot beunderesti-

mated;Americansarecapableofgoingtowaroverissuesofnational

honor.TheWarofr8r2is anexampleofJacksoniansentimentforcinga

waroutofresentmentovercontinualnationalhumiliationsatBritain's

hands.(However,thosewhosuffereddirectlyfromBritishinterference

withAmericanshipping,themerchants,opposedthewar.)Thepowerof

thehonorcodehas notfaded sincethen.Inthetwenty-firstcentury,

nationalhonorwouldrequiretheUnitedStatestofulfillitscommitment

toprotectTaiwanfrominvasion.

Theperceptionofnationalhonorasa vitalinterestthatwemustbe

quicktoprotecthasalwaysbeena wedgeissuedrivingJacksoniansand

Jeffersonians apart. TheJeffersonian peacepolicy inthe Napoleonic

Warsbecameimpossibleasthewarhawksgrewstronger.Thesamepat-

ternrecurredintheCarteradministration,whengatheringJacksonian

furyand impatienceatCarter'sJeffersonianapproaches totheSoviet

Union,Panama,Iran,andNicaraguaigniteda Jacksonianreactionthat

forcedCartertoreversehisbasicpolicyorientationandendedbyhelping

todrive him from office. WhatJeffersoniandiplomacywelcomes as