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

TheKaleidoscopeofAmericanForeignPolicy 41

andeconomicpolicy.Otheragencies,too,havetheirowninternational
contactsandagendas,andtheStateDepartmentitselfisnomonolith,
butrathera chaoticzoneofbureaucraticconflict.Officesestablishedby
congressionalmandateareoftenmoreaccountabletotheircongressional
patronsthantotheirnominalsuperiorsintheStateDepartment;inany
casethecareerstaffattheStateDepartmentknowsthatsecretariescome
andgo,butCongressis forever.
Whilethiswildandexuberantbureaucraticgrowthreacheditsfull
luxuriantprofusiononlylateinthetwentiethcentury, thepatternof
dividedauthority,shorttenure, andinternalrivalry intheexecutive
branchisa veryoldoneintheUnitedStates,andithasbeenfrustrat-
ingpresidentsandsecretariesofstatesinceGeorgeWashingtontriedto
resolvethesquabbles betweenHamiltonatTreasuryandJeffersonat
Stateinthe1790s.
ThatAmericanforeignpolicyisrarelytheproductofa single,delib-
erativemastermindonlybeginstodelineatethedifferencebetweenthe
AmericanarticleandtheEuropeanideal.TheAmericanforeignpolicy
processviolatesbasicContinentalideasaboutforeignpolicyinother
importantways.Thefirstistheconstitutionalprocess,a processdesigned
tocreatea clunky,shudderingmachinethatlungesforwardinfitsand
starts,onethatisalwaysdividedagainstitself,withhalfthegovernment
almostalwaysinvestigatingthedirtylaundryoftheother.Ifthatwere
notenough,theConstitutionisdesignedtohighlighttheinfluenceof
localandparochialinterestsintheforeignpolicyprocess.Froma Conti-
nentalpointofview,thisistheoppositeofthewayforeignpolicyshould
work,andmanymakethenotunnaturalassumptionthata processso
ghastlycannotpossiblysucceed.
The division ofauthority between the executive and legislative
branchesofgovernmentmakesfora slow,uncertain,andoftenridiculous
process ofpublic debate.Obscure but long-serving legislators reach
importantpolicy-makingpositionsthroughthepowerofseniority.As
chairmenoftheSenateForeignRelationsCommittee,menlikeIdaho's
senator William Borah (1923-33) orNorth Carolina'sJesse Helms
(1995-2001)care verylittle for internationalpublic opinionorthe
niceties ofdiplomaticdiscourse. Whatis unthinkabletotheinterna-
tionalcommunity-theUnitedStatesrefusingto jointheLeagueof
Nationsin 1919 and,morerecently,refusingtopayUNdues-ispoli-
ticsasusualforthesesenatorialbarons.Tobedeploredbyforeignambas-
sadors,lamentedbytheCouncilonForeignRelations,anddespisedby
internationalcivilservantsattheInternationalMonetaryFund(IMF),