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

334 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

themcontinuedtodointothe1940s:restindenialconcerningthetrue
extentofthenation'svitalinterests.More thaninthemiddleofthe
twentiethcentury,theUnitedStatesisnowinextricablytiedtoevents
thattakeplaceelsewhereintheworld.Thespreadofweaponsofmass
destruction,theenvironmentaldangersandconsequencesofworldwide
industrialdevelopment,thepotentialforpandemicdiseasesarisingin
overpopulatedandmedicallyunderservedportionsoftheworld,andthe
evercloser bondslinkingworldfinanceandtradeallmakeAmerican
leadershipinworldpoliticsa requiredcourse,notanelective.
IfJeffersonians blindthemselvestothisreality,andconfinethem-
selvestosnipingatthemoralinconsistencies, blunders,andcosts of
Americanforeignpolicy,andattempttorevivea contemporaryversionof
themythofvirtuousisolation,theywillachieve,perhaps,anillusion
ofthepuritysoughtbytheirPilgrimforebears,buttheywillbetraythe
valuestheycherish.Thatwouldbea pity,becausetheRepublicneeds
Jeffersoniancaution,Jeffersonian conservationofsuchpreciousresources
aslibertyandlives,andtheJeffersonianpassionforlimits.
IfJeffersoniansretreatintosterileoppositiontoallmilitaryandeco-
nomicleadership,theywillmerelydeprivethecountryofthecounselof
thosewhoseinsight,turnedtothepurposesofconstructivestatesman-
ship,canbestprotectthecountry'sinnervalueswhileshapingitsexter-
nalengagements.
TheUnitedStatestodayneedsexactlywhatJohnQuincyAdamsand
JamesMonroegaveitin1823:agrandstrategythatis rootedinthecon-
crete interestsoftheAmericanpeople,thatrespectsandserves their
moralvalues,andthatatthelowestpossiblecostinblood,treasure,and
politicalconcentrationofpowersecurestheirlives,theirfortunes,and
theirsacredhonor.