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

300 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

Ofcourse,Jacksonianssawdirectthreats tonationalsecuritydif-

ferently. Therewas littleopposition toprogramsaimed atfinancing

Russia'sdismantlingofitsnuclearweapons.Jacksonianscriticizedthe

administrationsofGeorgeH. BushandBillClintonfor cuttingthe

defensebudget.Therewasa greatdealofpopularuneaseaboutpotential

nuclearandbiologicalterroristthreatstothehomeland,anda willing-

nesstospendfarmoremoneyonthesethreatsthantheBushandClinton

administrationsaskedfor.

Overthecourseofthe 1990S,Jacksonianopinionbecamesteadily

moreawareofthegulfbetweenitsprioritiesandthoseoftheglobalist

establishment.Italsobecamemoreself-confidentlyassertiveaboutfight-

ingforitspositionsinpolicydebates.

J

effersoniansandJacksoniannationalists,thoughunitedinskepti-
cismaboutthenewworldorder,wereatleastasdeeplydividedas
the globalists.Jeffersonians generallyopposed NATOexpansionand
nationalmissiledefense;Jacksonianssupportedtheseinitiativesand,in
contrasttoJeffersonians,alsosupportedhighermilitarybudgets.Never-
thelessbothJeffersoniansandJ acksoniansshareda strongbeliefthatthe
globalistagendainbothitsHamiltonianandWilsonianformsexposed
theUnitedStatestounnecessaryrisksandcosts.ButJeffersoniansaJnd
Jacksoniansfailedtoarticulate,muchlesstounitebehind,a coher¢nt
alternativetotheglobalistnationalstrategyoftheGeorgeH.Bushalnd
Clintonyears.
Asa resulttheUnitedStateswentfromitsColdWarpoliticalstruc-
ture, inwhich two strongandstable coalitionsdebated the imple-
mentationofa consensusnationalstrategy,toa newandlessstablecon-
figurationinwhichtwoweakcoalitionsarguedagainsteachotherand
withinthemselvesoverthebasicstrategicarchitecture.Thenewglobal-
istandnationalistcoalitionswereweakanddivided;certainwedgeissues
splitthemcompletelyand,inonespectacularcase,theissueofnational
missiledefense, theold ColdWarcoalitionscamebacktoa kindof
ghostly,single-issuehalf-life.
Jacksonianssupportedtheideaofnationalmissiledefensewithgreat
passion,andconsideredirrelevantthetechnicalcriticismsofthesystem's
feasibility. Missiledefensewas a vitalquestion;ifwecouldn'tbuilda
goodonenow,thatwasallthemorereasontogetstartedinahUl!ry.
Whatbetterwaytolearnthanbydoing?Moreover,thethreatofmiSSile
defenseunderReaganhad,Jacksoniansargued,forcedtheSovietUnion