312 SPECiALPROViDENCEdifferent degrees by thephilosophical doctrinesofpolitical idealism
orrealism,ensures thatAmericanforeignpolicy over thelong term
tendstobepragmaticratherthandoctrinal.Whenandwhere grand
Wilsonian orHamiltonianproposalsforinternationalcooperationare
widelyandbroadlyseentoadvancetheinterestsoftheUnitedStates,
American policy moves in thatdirection. When,onthe contrary,a
politicalconsensusbuildsthatsomeparticularproposalriskssacrificing
concreteAmericanintereststovague,impractical,do-goodinginterna-
tionaldesigns,Jacksonianopinionrebels.Americanforeignpolicytends
tofollowtheevidence;itisnotwhollycommittedtoeitherrealistoride-
alistprinciplesapriori, and,intheconfusedandambiguousworldin
whichwelive,thatisprobablya goodthing.
Wecanalsobegratefulthatourfourschoolsarepromiscuous.That
is,anyoftheschoolsisabletocoalescewithanyoftheothersdepend-
ingoncircumstance.Rigidregional,class,confessional,orethnicloyal-
tiesgivesomecountriesrelativelyrigidsystemsofpoliticalcompetition.
Thislimitstheirpoliticaloptionsandincreasesthechancesthatthese
countrieswill beunable tofind effective solutions toforeign policy
problems.
WhiletheAmericansystemis far fromperfect, each ofthefour
schoolsisabletocombineeffectivelywiththeothers,inbroadornarrow
coalitionsforlargegoalsorsmall.WhileinsomewaysHamiltoniansare
theleastpopulist,andJacksoniansthemost,theircommonconcernfor
national strength and assertionallows them tocombine effectively.
WilsoniansandJeffersonians deeplydisagreeabout thepurposesand
limitsofAmericanpower,buttheycananddocooperateeffectivelyon
suchmeasuresasdisarmamentproposalstoreducethe threatofwar.As
thekaleidoscopeofAmericanforeignpolicyturnsthroughtheyears,the
schoolscombineandrecombineinonenewcoalitionafteranother.
Theabilityofthefourschoolstoformvaryingcoalitionsinresponse
toexternalorinternalpressuresreinforcesthepragmatismandflexibility
ofAmericanforeignpolicy.ItalsohelpsthatindividualAmericansare
rarelypassionatelyattachedtooneschoolandonlyoneschool,butare,
rather,responsivetotheappealsandlogicofthedifferentschoolstodif-
ferentdegreesatdifferenttimes.
Afinalfactorcontributingtoflexibilityisthepragmaticcharacterof
theschoolsthemselves.Whilealltheschoolsarebasedonideasandval-
ues, noneofthe schoolsis totalitarianorevena closedsystem.The
Americanpolityis,inthebroadestsenseoftheword,liberal,andsois