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

TheKaleidoscopeof AmericanForeignPolicy 53

life.InEuropeanhistorystatestendedtomonopolizeorcontrolmany
aspectsofthewayinwhichonesocietyinteractedwithothers.Even
internationalbusinesswascloselyconnectedwithstatesinearlymodern
andmedieval Europe.CommercialrepublicslikeVeniceandGenoasaw
extremelytightlinksbetweengovernmentandcommerce.InHolland
andBritain,muchinternationalcommercewascarriedoutbyorganiza-
tionsliketheDutchandBritishEastIndiaCompanies,whichcombined
aspectsofbothgovernmentandbusiness.Themissionaryactivitiesof
manyEuropeanstateswerealsocloselylinkedtotheirnationalpolicy.
TheroleofCatholicmissionariesinSpanish,Portuguese,andFrench
colonialventuresistypicalofthewayinwhichmanyactivitieswewould
nowcategorizeasthoseofcivilsocietyandnonstateactorswereonce
directedby,oratleastcoordinatedwiththepolicyof,thestate.
Withoutthatkindofhistoricalexperience,Americanmerchantsand
missionarieshaveactedwithmoreindependencefromthestate,though
bothgroupshave beenwillingto call for state supportwhen they
thoughttheyneededandcouldgetit.Itisnotwrongtospeakofa for-
eignpolicyoftheAmericanpeople,onethatisnotalwaysidenticalto
thepolicyoftheAmericanstatebutthatisnotalwayscompletelysepa-
ratefromiteither.Themovementofbothmissionariesandmerchants
intoHawaiiwasindependentofthestate,yetinsomewaysitexpressed
thepolicyoftheUnitedStatestowardthatkingdombetterthanofficial
declarationsdid. Morethanoncepopularpolicyhasrunaheadofthe
stateandultimatelyforcedthestate-sometimesreluctantly-tosup-
portit.ThemovementbyAmericanpioneersintoTexas,theirsubse-
quentrebellionagainstMexico,and theprocess bywhichTexas was
ultimatelybroughtintotheUnionshowthisphenomenonatwork.The
UnitedStatesgovernmentwasdirectlyinvolvedonlyinthefinalannexa-
tion,buttheexpansionintoTexas-aswellasthesimilarandcontinuing
expansionintoIndianlandsguaranteedbytreaties-showsthata consis-
tentpopular"foreignpolicy"wasatworkthroughouttheperiod.
Whileitis stillpossibletodistinguishbetweenwhatthegovernment
adoptsaspolicyandwhatotheractorsdoontheirown,manyactivities
thatwouldhavebeendirectedbystatesinotherpartsoftheworldwere
carriedoutbycivilsocietyintheUnitedStates.Foreignpolicystudies
thatcomparestateactivitiesinEuropewithstateactivitiesintheUnited
Statestendtounderestimatethedegree,andinsomecasesmisjudgethe
directionandeffect,ofthebroadengagementoftheUnitedStateswith
therestoftheworld.