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

TheKaleidoscopeof AmericanForeignPolicy 37

businessofthestate.ForAmericanrealists,gettingeconomicpolicy
rightisthetruegrandstrategyofthestate;ifwehavethemoneywewill
somehowfindtheshipsandmen.IfonelooksatAmericanforeignpolicy
throughtheContinentalistperspectiveandassumesthattheeconomic
issuesareminorandthatonly"highpolitics"counts,itlooksasifthe
UnitedStateshashad,comparedtotheContinentalpowersatanyrate,
relativelylittleinvolvementinforeignpolicyfromtheendoftheWarof
1812 intothetwentiethcentury.AnduntiltheColdWarAmericans
seemonlyepisodicallyinvolvedinforeignpolicy,alternatingbriefperi-
odsofactivismwithlongstretchesofisolation.Onlyrestoringeconomic
policy tothe realm of"highpolitics"allows us to understandwhy
Americanstatesmenandpublicopinionweresodeeplyinvolvedinfor-
eignpolicyformuchofourhistory.
Theseconddistortionthat weakens theability ofthose wearing
thespectaclesofContinentalrealismtoseethetruenatureofAmeri-
canforeignpolicyhastodowithscale.ContinentalrealistsareEuro-
centric,andseetheEuropeancontinentas themaintheaterofworld
politics.ForatleastthreehundredyearstheAnglo-Americanshavedis-
sented.Ineighteenth-centuryBritishpolitics,the"bluewater"Tories
mostlyfavoredleavingEuropetoitsowndeviceswhiletheBritishnavy
andBritishmerchantshippingstrengthenedtheBritishEmpirearound
theworld.ThedismalbattlesofthescorpionsintheirtinyEuropean
bottlewasa distractionfromtherealbusinessofBritain,saidtheTories.
Havea strong-enoughnavyto,asitwere,corkthebottlesothatnoneof
thescorpionscouldcrawlout,andBritainwouldbesecure.
TheWhigsdisagreed.TheTories,theysaid,wererighttoholdthat
thetruepathtoworldpowerlayoutsideEurope;neverthelessitwasa
mistake to ignore Europeentirely. Britain needed to maintain the
capacitytointerveneintheContinentalwars,topreventanyscorpion
fromdevouringtherestandgrowingstrongenoughtopushthecorkout
ofthewayandclimboutofthebottle.
Continentalpowersandstatesmendidnotignorethewiderworld,
butthegrimbattleamongscorpionstheycouldneverescapeforcedtheir
attentionandresourcestimeandagainawayfromthewiderworldand
backtothedismalbattlefieldsofEurope. FortheContinentalpowers,
Europeanpoliticswasamatteroflifeanddeath;worldpoliticswasa
luxury.
Americanshaveultimatelyreacheda conclusionnottoodissimilar
fromtheWhigviewofEurope.Theoldcontinentistooimportantto