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

TheKaleidoscopeof AmericanForeignPolicy 45

policywasshapedinpartbydemocraticvalues,interests,andaspirations
throughboththenineteenthandthetwentiethcentury.
Intheopinionofmanyobserversbothforeignanddomestic,thatis
nota goodthing.Untilveryrecentlyfew sensiblepeople haveever
believedintheabilityofdemocraciestoconducttheirforeignaffairsina
moderate,firm,constructive,andfarsightedfashion.
WeoftenforgettodayjusthowrevolutionarytheAmericanexperi-
menthasbeen.Thisattemptatdemocracyona continentalscale has
alwaysinspiredmisgivings;nothingsobroadinscopehadeverbeen
triedbefore,andtheprevious,smallerexperimentsmostlycametogrief.
ThefirstpoliticalscientistshadwatchedinhorrorwhiletheAthenian
democracyembarkedonanadventurousforeignpolicy,vacillatedinthe
conductoftheresultingwar,playedpoliticswiththemilitarycommand,
andentrustedthefateofthecity-statetoanunprincipledandunbal-
ancedadventurer."Thefairestofnames,buttheworstofrealities-mob
rule,"saidPolybiusofdemocracy. "[M}orecruelthanwarsortyrants,"
wastheverdictofSeneca,who,astherutorofNeroandanacquaintance
ofCaligula,hadampleopportunitytoassesstheproblemsoftyrannyup
close.^24
Subsequentcenturiessaw theconsequencesofdemocratic govern-
mentincity-statesthroughouttheMediterraneaninantiquity,andagain
inItalyduringtheRenaissance;itwasnotaninspiringperformance.The
FrenchRevolution,andtoa lesserdegreetheAmericanRevolution,did
not,atfirst,changemanyminds.
ThefirstthreeAmericanpresidentswereallconvincedthatforeign
entanglementscouldwrecktheyoungrepublic-thoughtheydiffered
overwhichentanglementsmightposethegreatestdanger.Washington
andJohnAdamsbelievedthatthefriendsofFrancewereintentona
Jacobin-stylerevolutionintheUnitedStates,accompaniedbyanideo-
logicallymotivatedwarinsupportoftheFrenchRevolution.Jefferson,
for his part, believed that Washington, with a sinisterpro-British
factionathisback,waswillingtosupporta coupifnecessarytogetthe
pro-BritishJayTreatythroughtheSenate.Thesefearsarosepartlyoutof
theweaknessandinstabilitythatcharacterizedtheyoungrepublic,but
l)1orefundamentally,eveninJefferson'scase,outofa beliefthatdemo-
craticstateswereingenerallessablethanotherstomanagetheirforeign
relations.
OtherfriendsoftheRepublicagreed."Idonothesitatetosay,"wrote
AlexisdeTocqueville,"thatitisespeciallyintheconductoftheirfor-