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

TheRiseandRetreatoftheNewWorldOrder 301

PEACEINSECUREANDPEACESECURE

TheseNastcartoonsreflectthelongnineteenth-centurydebateoverthe

needforcoastaldefensesforAmericancitiesagainstEuropeannavies.This

controversyreflecteda widespreadawarenessthatAmerica's'majorcities

thenlaydangerouslyexposedtoattackbypowerfulEuropeanwarfleets.

Therewasherea definiteresemblancetothetwentieth-andtwenty-first-

centurybattleovermissiledefense.Opponentssaidthattheproposed

coastaldefensesystemswereexpensiveandunworkable;supportersbe-

lievedthatthesystemscouldworkandcouldmakea difference.History's

verdictonthecoastaldefensedebateismixed.Whatshouldbeclear,how-

ever,isthatAmericansinthenineteenthcenturysawtheirhomesand

familiesasvulnerabletodevastatingforeignattack.Onlyinthetwentieth

centurywouldhistoriansanddiplomatscometobelievethateighteenth-

andnineteenth-centuryAmericansfeltsecurebehindtheiroceansagainst

securitythreatsfromabroad.ThomasNast.LibraryofCongress,PrintsandPhoto-

graphsDivision,Harper'sWeekly,February13,1875,page 136

toconcedeAmericanstrategicsupremacy;whynota newroundtoforce
countrieslikeChinatoaccepttheirinabilitytomatchAmericanmight?
Hamiltoniansweremoreeasilyswayed bytechnicalconcerns,butin