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

TheKaleidoscopeof AmericanForeignPolicy 39

FromthestandpointofContinentalrealism,Americanforeignpolicy
and,forthatmatter,thewholeAmericangovernmentlookwrong.Mas-
sachusettscongressmanFisherAmesputhisfingerontheproblemina
speechhemadetotheHouseofRepresentativesin1795:"Amonarchyis
amerchantmanwhichsailswell,butwillsometimesstrikeona rock,and
gotothebottom;a republicisa raftwhichwillneversink,butthenyour
feetarealways inthewater."20BecausetheraftofAmericanforeign
policylacksallthefeaturesthatContinentalrealistslookforina vessel,
theyconsistentlyfailtograsptheraft'scapabilities.
Tobeginwith,Continentalrealistsbelieveinwhatwemightcallthe
"auteur"theoryofforeignpolicy.Likefilmcriticswhoseefilmsas the
personalcreationofa singlehand-usuallythatofthedirector-soCon-
tinentalrealists believethatthebestforeignpolicyis theproductof
a singlegreatmaster: a Bismarck, a Talleyrand,a Metternich, ora
Kissinger.
Thegreatgeniuslabors,essentiallyalone,atsomethinglikea vast,
complex,andmultidimensionalgameofchess.Apawnisadvancedhere,
a rooksacrificedthere;herea feint,thereanadvance,therea strategic
retreatthattemptstheopponenttoloseeverythingbyadvancingtoofar.
Sometimesthisgreatmanworksastheservantofanothermasterofthe
foreignpolicyuniverse.(That,atanyrate,is howNixonsawhisrelation-
shipwithKissinger.)Moreoften,however,hestandsaloneinconfronta-
tionwithrivals,bureaucraticobstacles,anduninformedsuperiors.The
immatureKaiserWilhelmII"droppedthepilot"whenheforcedBis-
marck's resignation;Talleyrandsteppedasidewhenhewas convinced
thatNapoleon'sexcessiveambitioncouldleadonlytodisaster.
Thisis,ofcourse,a nineteenth-centuryRomanticvisionofthefor-
eignministerasa darkByronichero:Brooding,silent,andbearingvast
responsibilities,heisexcusedfromthenormalrestraintsofmoralityin
the service ofhis titanic, earth-alteringvision. (IfKissinger canbe
believedonthesubject,thesimilaritybetweenforeignministersand
Byronicheroesalsoextendsintotheboudoir.)
ItisveryclearthattheAmericanpoliticalsystemisnotgearedtocre-
atinga smoothpathforsuchcharacters.Bismarckloathedanddespised
theReichstaganddealtwithitaslittleaspossible;a would-beAmerican
Bismarckmustnotonlyspendendlesshourstestifyingindetailbefore
sometimeshostilepanels,buteverywhereheturnshefindsconstitutional
mandatesthatforcehimtoobtaincongressionalorsenatorialapproval
beforeproceeding.HadRichelieu,Bismarck,orMetternichbeenbornin
theUnitedStates,itisunlikelythatanyofthemwouldhavehadthe