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

54 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

T

hemanydifferentfailuresoftheAmericanstatetoliveupto
Continentalmodelsofwhatstatesshouldlooklikepointtoa
basicdifferencebetweentheAmericanandEuropeanprocessesthatCon-
tinentallyorientedobserverscannothelpburinterpretasanAmerican
weakness.Americanforeignpolicydoesnotproceedoutofa single,uni-
fiedworldview.Therearevitaldifferencesoverthedefinitionofnational
interests,evenattheheartoftheAmericanforeignpolicyprocess.
Americanforeignpolicyrestsona balanceofcontrasting,competing
voicesandvalues-itis a symphony,ortriestobe,ratherthana solo.It
oftenseemsthatthischaoticconditioncannotbethebasisforsound,
long-termpolicy. Buthistoryteachessomethingdifferent.TheUnited
Stateswasconsumedbycontroversyoverforeignpolicyfrom 1949 to
1989,a periodwheneveryfundamentalelementofthatpolicycameinto
question.YetthroughitalltheUnitedStatesadheredtoa centralstrate-
gicgoal.ItcontainedtheSovietUnionandbroughtaboutthecollapse
oftheEuropeancommunistsystemwithoutfightinga nuclearwar.At
virtuallyeverypointduringtheCold War,Americanforeign policy
lookedlikea mess.Idealistsandrealistsstruggledoverpossessionofthe
policy;demagoguespulledthecountryonewayoranother,themilitary-
industrialcomplexstillanother;ethniclobbiesdistortedoverallforeign
policy;thecountrydidthingsitoughtn'ttohavedone,suchasallow-
ingUnited Fruittodictatepolicy overGuatemala in 1954,and it
leftundonethingsitoughttohavedone,likenormalizing relations
withChinabefore 1973.Itwaspossible--eveneasy-towritebooks
denouncingthefailures,inconsistencies,incongruities,andirregularities
inAmericanforeignpolicy.OurEuropeanfriendsmissednoopportunity
tosnipeatourpoliciesfromthesidelinesand,Godknows,theyhad
plentytosnipeat.
Andyet.
Whenallis said anddone, theUnitedStatesstucktoits policy
ofcontainment.ItbuilttheNATOalliance,thelargest(andlongest-
lasting)intimatesecuritypartnershipamongsovereignstatesinmodern
history.Itbuilta systemofinternationaltradewiderandfreerthanany-
thingthathadeverexisted.Itpresidedoveraninternationalsystemthat
sawthedismantlingofEuropeanempiresaffecting 40 percentofthe
earth'ssurfaceandwithouttheoutbreakofanygeneralwar.Itdeveloped
securitydoctrinestokeepinchecktheunprecedenteddestructivepower
ofnuclearweapons,anditmanageda conflictedrelationshipwitha rival
nuclearpowerwithoutdisasterforfortyyears.