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

290 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

intervention,eitheraloneorwiththeUN.Theveryplenitudeofocca-
sions for suchinterventionwas themostpowerfulargumentagainst
hUIl}anitarianinterventions;Americanscouldseenolimittothecallson
theirpurseortheirtroopsifWilsonianinterventionismbecamethecor-
nerstoneofAmericanpolicy.
FacedwithAmericanoppositiontohumanitarianinterventions,but
stillcommittedtotheuseofforcetoendhorrifichumanrightsviola-
tions,Wilsoniansproposedtheformationofaninternationalpoliceforce
ofsomekind,perhapsunderUNcontrol.Froma Wilsonianstandpoint,
suchanapproach seemed simple,obvious, andentirelybenign. The
UnitedStateswould nothavetosupply bodiestothefront linesof
theworld'sconflictzones:Itwouldmerelypaya reasonableshareofthe
expensesoftraining,maintaining,anddeployinganinternationalforce.
ButthisapproachbringsustothethirdfactorlimitingWilsonian
successandinfluenceinthebattleoverAmericanforeign policy.The
Wilsoniansupportfoririternationalpoliceforces,lawcourts,andother
instrumentsofcoercionrunsheadlongupagainsta strongandwide-
spreadfeelingagainstanyinstitutionsorpoliciesthatinfringeonthe
sovereigntyoftheUnitedStates.
ThedecadefollowingtheColdWarprovidedgrowingevidencethat
theoldAmericanreluctancetopoolsovereigntywithothercountriesfor
a commonpurposewasstillstrongand,withtheSovietmenaceourof
theway,playinganincreasingroleinthepoliticsofAmericanforeign
policy.Reagan's 1982 rejectionoftheLawoftheSea,a132~ountryagree-
mentonpropertyrightsandotherissuesrelatingtoseabedresourcesand
navigation,waspartofa largerandlongstandingdeterminationnotto
makeanysacrificesofsovereigntyforthesakeofinternationallaw.
TheKyotoprotocols,theInternationalCriminalCourt,theCompre-
hensiveTestBanTreaty,andtheLandMineTreatywereexamplesofini-
tiativesdeartotheWilsoniandreamofa worldofinternationallawat
whichtheUnitedStatesbalked.Moreimportantinthelongtermwas
thegrowingmovementintheUnitedStatestoabandontheentirenet-
workofarmscontrolarrangementssopainstakinglynegotiatedwiththe
SovietUnioninthelasthalfoftheColdWar.ForWilsoniansthegrow-
ingsupportfora nationalmissiledefensesystem,whichwouldupsetthe
balance ofnuclearweapons widelycreditedwithpreventing nuclear
attacksinthetwogenerationssinceNagasaki,wasa disaster.Wilsonians
worriedabouta newarmsrace,aboutthedangeroustemptationsforthe
UnitedStatesifitachievednuclearinvulnerability,abouttheeffectsofa