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

Tiger, Tiger,BurningBright 259

KoreanWar.AmericanfoodandenergyaidtoNorthKorea,indeedany
engagementwiththatdefiantregime,remainsunpopularwithJacksoni-
ansforthesamereason. NeitherthemullahsofIran,theassassinsof
Libya,norFidelCastrohaveeverbeenforgivenbyJacksonianopinionfor
theircrimesagainstanddefianceoftheUnitedStates-norwilltheybe,
untiltheyacknowledgetheirsins.
ThefailureoftheSovietUniontomakea formalsurrender,orforthe
ColdWartoendinanywaythatcouldbemarkedasV-USSRday,greatly
complicatedAmericanpolicytowardpost-ColdWarRussia.TheSoviet
UnionlosttheColdWarabsolutelyandunconditionally,andRussiahas
sufferedeconomicandsocialdevastationcomparabletothatsustainedby
anylosingpowerinthegreatwarsofthecentury.Butbecauseitnever
surrendered,Jacksonianopinionneverquiteshiftedintomagnanimity
mode. Wilsonians,Hamiltonians,andJeffersoniansallfavoredrecon-
struction support and aid, but withoutJacksonian concurrence the
Americaneffortwassharplylimited.Advicewasdoledoutwitha free
andgeneroushand;aidwasextendedmoregrudgingly.
Thisisfarfroma completeaccountofJacksonianvaluesandbeliefsas
theyaffecttheUnitedStates.Ineconomicaswellasdefensepolicy,for
example,Jacksonianideasarebothinfluentialandunique.Convinced
thattheprimepurposeofgovernmentistodefendthelivingstandardsof
themiddleclass,Jacksonianopinionisinstinctivelyprotectionist,seek-
ingtradeprivilegesforAmericangoodsabroadandhopingtowithhold
those privilegesfromforeignexports.Jacksonianswereoncefarmers;
todaytheytendtobeserviceandindustrialworkers.Theyseethepreser-
vationofAmericanjobs,evenatthecostofsomeunspecifieddegreeof
"economicefficiency,"asthenaruralandobvioustaskofthefederalgov-
ernment'stradepolicy.Jacksonianscanbepersuadedthata particular
tradeagreementoperatestothebenefitofAmericanworkers,butthey
needtobepersuadedoverandoveragain.Jacksoniansarealsoskeptical,
onbothculturalandeconomicgrounds,ofthebenefitsofimmigration.
Immigrationis seenasendangeringthecohesionofthefolkcommunity
andintroducing new, low-wagecompetitionfor jobs. Neither result
strikesJacksonianopinionasdesirablegovernmentpolicy.

AssessmentoftheJacksonianSchool

Jacksonianinfluence inAmerican historyhas been, and remains,
enormous. TheUnitedStatescannotwagea majorinternationalwar