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

288 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

ThatWilsonianinitiativesandideascontributedtopolicyfailures
InRussiaandChinaoutweighedthefact thatinmanysmaller, less
important countries the Wilsonian agenda had been crowned with
success.Muchofthedamagewas self-inflicted.IfWilsonianshadnot
oversoldtheirabilitytobringchangetoRussiaandChina,theoutcomes
theremightnothavebeenheldagainstthem.Butthefailuresandthe
damagewerereal.BothJacksoniansandHamiltonianslostconfidencein
theabilityofWilsonian-inspireddiplomatsandpolicy makerstohandle
Americanrelationswiththeworld'sgreatpowersandhardcases,andJef-
fersonianconcernsaboutthepossibleconsequencesofWilsonianover-
stretchdeepened. RussiaandChinapolicybecame effectiveissuesin
GeorgeW.Bush's 2000 presidentialcampaign.
Thisdamagewascompoundedbythesecondfactorthatundermined
Wilsonianachievements: thedegreetowhichthelogic ofWilsonian
policypulledtheUnitedStatestowardprofoundlyunpopularinterven-
tionsabroad.
Defendinghumanrightsabroadranksverylowonthe.listofpublic
prioritiesforAmericanforeignpolicy.AccordingtotheFebruary 2000
Pewpoll,only 39 percentoftheAmericanpeoplebelievethatdefending
humanrightsabroadshouldbea "veryimportant"goaloftheUnited
States,22Yetmorethanonceinthenineties,Wilsoniansfound them-
selvesurgingtheAmericanpeopletofightoverseaswarsforprecisely
thisgoal.
TherewerebruisingbattlesoverinterventionsinSomalia,Haiti,and
Rwandaduringthenineties,butthedefinitivebattlesontheissuetook
placeoverU.S.policyinthewarsoftheYugoslavsuccession.Thelong
anddepressingseriesofbattlesintheUnitedStatesoverappropriate
policyintheBalkansservedtointroduceWilsonianstothedismalper-
plexitiesofAmericanforeignpolicyintheabsenceoftheColdWar.
TheappallingatrocitiesofthosewarsbroughtmanyWilsoniansto
theconclusionthatmilitaryinterventionwasa moralduty.Thisfeeling
wasparticularlystrongamongthosewholookedbackwithregretand
shameontheU.S.failuretotakestronger,moreeffective,andearlier
stepsagainsttheNazipersecutionoftheJews.These"holocaustWilso-
nians"sawthepreventionoffutureatrocitiesofthiskindasthecentral
andinescapablemoral dutyofthe UnitedStates,and believed that
"Neveragain"shouldbecomeoneofthebasicprinciplesoftheAmerican
state.
YetWilsoniansfound,totheirgreatchagrinandsurprise,thatpopu-