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

296 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

moreflexiblebutstillwantmuchcleareranswersthanWilsonianscould
give aboutAmerican interventions abroad. Furthermore Hamilt!on-
ians tend to be far more tolerant ofmoral shortcomings at hClme
andabroadthanaretheirWilsoniancolleagues.Ethnicoppressionhas
goneonfora verylongtime,Hamiltoniansreasoned,thoughtheydid
notoftensaysoinpublic;ethniccleansinghasbeenrathercommonplace
intwentieth-centuryEurope.Ugly, wicked,anddistastefulthoughit
is,is itreallya crimethatrequiresarmedoppositionfromtheUnited
States?
HamiltoniansviewedtheWilsonianaspectsofClintonadministtra-
tionpolicywithincreasingdismay,sharingaquietsensethatSecretary-of
StateMadeleineAlbright'sWilsonianconvictionsweretakingthecoun-
tryina dangerousdirection,committingittoriskyventures,andunnec-
essarilydrawinghostilityandjealousyfromothergreatpowers.
Thisdismaydeepeneddramaticallyin 1999 whentheUnitedStates
anditsNATOalliesmountedanairwaragainstYugoslavia.Asidefrom
widespreadunhappinesswiththeClintonadministration'snegotiation
strategy,itslackofcleargoals,andapparentmiscalculationsalongthe
roadtowar,Hamiltonianrealistsweretakenabackbytherevolutionary
natureofthelegaltheoriesusedtojustifYthewar.Hamiltoniansdonot
as a rulemakea fetishofinternationallaw,butHamiltoniansseethe
UnitedStatesas a conservative,statusquopoweronsecurity issues.
Hamiltoniansdonotasa rulelikeprecedentsthatunderminetheimpor-
tanceofnationalsovereignty.
AdditionallythearrestofPinochetalarmedHamiltoniansaboutthe
degreetowhichAmericanWilsonians,inleaguewiththeircolleagues
abroad,wereerodinglegaldoctrineswhoseprotectionAmericandiplo-
matsandpresidentsmightwellneedsomeday. Asin 1919,theWil-
sonian desirefor aninternational legal system higherthan national
sovereignsclashedwiththeHamiltonianbeliefthatnoearthlypower
shouldbegreaterthanthegovernmentoftheUnitedStates.
Early inthetwenty-first centurythedeepening tensionsbetween
HamiltoniansandWilsoniansweresplittingtheglobalistcoalitioninto
itsconstituentparts.

TheOppositionCoalition

Evenastheirpartnershipfalteredandtheiragendasstalled,theglob-

alistschoolsdominatedAmericanforeignpolicyaftertheColdWar.But