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

324 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

canpeople,howcanitbedefended?Shouldthathegemonybedeepened
andwidened?
TheBritishhegemonywasbrilliantbutshort-lived.Whatarethe
prospectsforours?Willthetwenty-firstcenturyalsobeanAmerican
century,andshouldwecare?
Whatkindofhegemonydowewant,andwhy?Whatpoliciesonour
partwillbestconservewhatisgoodinit,andminimizetherisksand
costsassociatedwiththemaintenanceofa worldwidedominion?Whatis
thepointofour"empire"-tomakeusrich,ortomakeussafe,orto
builda betterworld?
Anyefforttodevelopa seriousnationalforeignpolicyconsensusmust
takeuptheseissuesandmore.Withouta clearerpublicunderstanding
oftheAmericanhegemonyasa systemandasa powerphenomenon,it
isdifficulttohavemeaningfulpublicdiscussionaboursecuritypolicy,
muchlessdevelopa seriousanddeeppublicconsensusaboutmilitary
strategiesanddeployments.Questionsabouttherelativemeritsofmulti-
lateralandunilateralapproachescanalsobeeffectivelydiscussedonlyin
thelightofanunderstandingofthedynamicsandrequirementsofhege-
mony. Fundamentally, Jacksonian hesitations and misgivings about
globallyorientedeconomicandpoliticalinitiativescanbeaddressedonly
whentheAmericanpeoplehavereflectedon,andabsorbedtherealities
of, thehegemonyandcometoa consideredpublicjudgmentaboutits
valuetothecountry.
The near-total absence ofthis absolutely central question from
Americanpublicdiscussionmaybethegreatestpricewepaytodayfor
ourhistoricalamnesia.ThequestionofworldorderandoftheU.S.rela-
tiontoitwas,aswesaw,thecentralproblemofAmericanforeignpolicy
from 1776 tothepresentday. WiththecollapseoftheBritishEm-
pireandtheAmericanmovetopickupthefallenpiecesoftheBritish
worldorder,thecareandmaintenanceofworldorderbecameourmajor
nationaltask.Virtuallyeverything thathappens inAmericanforeign
policyisinsomewayrelatedtothisoverarching-andsometimesover-
whelming-nationalresponsibility,butcandiddiscussionofthisreality
islargelyabsentfromournationalpoliticaldiscourse.
Inthelate1940StheUnitedStatesbegantunninga globalsystem,
butwetoldourselvesthatwewereonlyfightingtheColdWar.Substan-
tialsectionsofAmericanpublicopinionacceptedtheideathata definite
threatfromtheSovietUnionrequireda defensive,worldwideresponse
fromtheUnitedStates.Whileitwaswidelyacknowledgedthatboththe