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

TheRiseandRetreatoftheNewWorldOrder 265

ColdWardovessometimeshopedtoreplacecontainment,atleastpar-
tially,withengagement.ThoughtheVietnamWaranditsaftermath
severelytestedtheColdWarconsensus,generallyspeaking,itsurvived
fromthe1940Stothe1980s.
PartlybecausetheColdWarconsensuswassodeepandsodurable,
andpartlybecauseAmericanhistoricalmemorywassodrasticallycur-
tailed by themythoftheColdWar, thestruggleagainsttheSoviet
Uniongenerateditsownlanguagetodescribethevariousdebatesover
Americanforeignpolicy.Thehistoryoftheyearsbetweenthetwoworld
warswasrevisedtocreatea satisfyingifonlypartiallyaccuratemorality
play. Inthisdramacourageousandfar-sighted"interventionists"who
understoodthenatureofthenewanddangerousworldgrewfromsmall
beginningstodefeatthetraditionallyentrenched"isolationists."Follow-
ingthatdefeata newdichotomydevelopedinAmericanpolitics,almost
entirely unrelatedto anything thathad comebefore: the ColdWar
dichotomyof"realist"hawksand"idealist"doves.
Realistsorhawks-thatis, virtuallyallJacksonianstogetherwith
manyHamiltoniansandsuchColdWarWilsoniansasWashingtonsena-
torHenry"Scoop"Jackson-favoredanactivist,evenanaggressive,no-
holds-barredapproach totheSovietUnion,one inwhichouruse of
militaryforces,intelligenceoperatives,andallianceswithunsavorychar-
acterswas requiredgivenSoviet unscrupulousness.Idealistsordoves,
manyWilsoniansandvirtuallyallJeffersonians,favoreda morehigh-
mindedapproachtotheColdWar,aimingtodefeattheSovietUnionby
settinga betterandmorecompellingexampletothenationsoftheearth.
Idealistsalsotendedtoprefereconomicaidtomilitaryaid,multilateral
institutionstounilateralaction,andwantedtousetheexigenciesofthe
ColdWartosupportdomesticprogramsrangingfromteachingmore
scienceinAmericanschools(afterSputnik)todomesticdesegregationasa
waytodemonstrate theessentialjusticeofmarketdemocracytothe
developingworld.Idealists,onecouldsay,wantedtheUnitedStatesto
leadbyexample;realistswantedittoleadbyleading.
Withhindsightitseemsclearthatneither"realism"nor"idealism"
providedaninfallibleguidetotheperplexitiesoftheColdWar.Realists'
supportforapartheidSouthAfrica,thegeneralsofSouthVietnam,and
CubanexilesattheBayofPigsdidnotbringtheUnitedStatesmuch
joy. Realists often scoffed at culturalexchanges and otherprograms
of"engagement"duringtheColdWar,ontheveryrationalgroundthat
Communistgovernmentsnarrowlyrestrictedparticipationinsuchactivi-