TheRiseandRetreatoftheNewWorldOrder 295helpedbringprogressonthatagendatoa halt.Thecollapseofthe 1999
ministerialmeeting oftheWTO, held inSeattle amidbitterstreet
protests,confirmeda trendalreadyclearlypresent: TheHamiltonian
agendaoftheearly1990Shadlostpoliticalmomentum.Theabilityof
theUnitedStatestoachieve keyHamiltoniangoalswasindoubt-
again,lessbecauseofforeignoppositiontothosedesignsthanbecauseof
internaldissensionwithintheUnitedStates.
MeanwhileHamiltoniansfound themselves increasinglyalienated
fromcoreelementsoftheWilsonianagenda.Economicsanctions,and
especiallyunilateraleconomicsanctions,wereanathemabothtoHamil-
tonianprinciplesand,often,tospecificandpowerfulHamiltonianinter-
ests.ForWilsonianssanctionswerea relativelycheaptooltouseagainst
peccantgovernmentsabroad.WeretheChinesearrestingdissidentsand
persecutingtheTibetans?Sanctiontheirtrade.WasMyanmar'shuman
rightsrecordanaffronttoalldecentpeople?BlockAmericancompanies
frominvestingthere.DidCastroarrestindependentjournalists?Tighten
theembargo.
Hamiltonianssawthisasself-defeatingmadness.Wilsonianssawit
as our simplemoral duty. Hamiltonianssomewhat reluctantlycon-
cededthatmultilateraltradesanctionscouldbeusefulandappropriate.
Theconcessioncamepartlybecausemultilateralsanctionsclearlyhad
agreaterchanceofbeingeffectivethanunilateralones; italsocame
because Hamiltonians well understood that effective multilateral
sanctionswouldrarelybeproclaimed.Wilsoniansfreelyconcededthat
multilateralsanctionswerepreferabletotheunilateralkind,butthey
continuedtoarguethatthereweretimeswhenU.S.principlesdemanded
thatAmericanstakeastand,whateverothersdid.
Thequestionofhumanitarianwarsalsodividedtheschools. The
apparententhusiasmofWilsoniansfortheseinterventionsincreasingly
dismayedHamiltoniansas the 1990Sslippedby.Wilsonianinterven-
tionsappearedtohavehighcosts,higherrisks,andveryloworuncertain
returns.HowmuchmoredemocraticwasHaitiaftertheAmericaninva-
sionthanbefore,howmuchclosertoadurablepoliticaloreconomic
order? How long, Hamiltonians wantedto know, would American
troopsbeboggeddownintheformerYugoslavrepublicsbeforethey
couldcomehome?What,exactly,wasthepolicyoutcomeWilsonians
aimedatin thesecases? What risks---ofconflict withcountrieslike
ChinaandRussia,oroftensionswithAmericanallies-wereWilsonians
readytoruninpursuitoftheiraims?
Jacksoniansopposelimitedwarfare atalltimes.Hamiltoniansare