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

318 SPECIALPROViDENCE

thePacifictorespect Chineseterritorialintegrityandtocontinueto
observetherestrictionsoftheopendoor.^14 Asmovementsforindepen-
dencebegantodevelopintheEuropeanempires,Wilsonianscontinued
toshowstrongAmericansupportforfigureslikeGandhiandtovilify
old-fashionedBritishimperialists.
YetWilsonians,likeHamiltonians,wererunningona shortleash.
ThekeystoneoftheWilsonianvisionremainedAmericanparticipation
intheLeagueofNations,andthatdreamfadedeverfartherintothedis-
tance. Wilsoniansalso madea majoreffortto persuadetheCoolidge
administration toaccept the jurisdictionofthe PermanentCourtof
InternationalJustice,theforerunneroftoday'sWorldCourt.Hereagain
theyweredefeated.
Withouta realcommitmentbytheUnitedStatesto aneffective
policyinsupportofinternationallawandcollectivesecurity,theflimsy
networkofdisarmament,arbitrationagreements,andtheKellogg-Briand
Pactfellapartintheharsherinternationalconditionsofthe1930s.The
resultdemonstratedtheunhappyprinciplethatsuccessissometimesthe
mostwoundingformoffailure.Wilsoniansgotwhattheywanted,skep-
ticspointedout:a solemninternationaltreatybanningwar.Theresult
wasthegreatestwarinworldhistory,inwhichthepreciouspactplayed
noroleatall.Rightuptothepresentday,thecollapseoftheambitious
peaceanddisarmamentmovementofthe1920Shasbeenusedbyrealist
criticsofWilsonianidealismtoshowthefutilityofusingpaperagree-
mentstostopwars.

T

heothertwoschoolsalsoenjoyedhollowvictoriesduring the

interwaryears.Jacksoniansrolledtheireyesatarbitrationtrea-

tiesandKellogg-Briand,acquiescinginthembecausetheyjudged,cor-

rectly,thattherewasnopointinwastingpoliticalcapitalona last-ditch

oppositiontosomethingso feeble andpointless.Jeffersonians hailed

theseagreementsandusedthemtosupporttheircontentionthatthe

UnitedStatescouldgetall thebenefitsWilsoniansattributedtothe

LeagueofNationsandtheinternationalcourtwithoutactuallyjoining

thedreadedorganization.WesawearlierhowJeffersonianswerealsoable

toapplythelessonsofhistorytheyderivedfromWorldWarI, andpassa

seriesofstrictneutralityactsduringthe1930s.15Long-standingJeffer-

soniansuspicionsofinternationalbankersandcorporationswerefurther

gratifiedin 1933 whenFranklinRooseveltwithdrewfromtheLondon