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

ChapterThree

CHANGINGTHE

PARADIGMS

F

oreigners,andespeciallyEuropeans,mightnaturallyrelyonthe
assumptionsofContinentalrealism,unsatisfactoryas theymay
be,toanalyzeAmericanforeignpolicy.Butwearestillleftwitha deeper
mystery:WhydosomanyAmericancitizens,statesmen,andscholars
find theirowntraditionsowanting?Many ofthebitterestcriticsof
AmericanforeignpolicyprocessareAmericancitizens;somehaveheld
highofficeintheAmericangovernment.Whatpossiblecausecanthere
be for whatappears tobeanamnesiapandemicdepriving so many
Americanforeignpolicyleadersofanyrealknowledgeof,orinterestin,
theforeignpolic;:ytraditionsoftheAmericanstate?Howandwhyhave
theassumptionsofContinentalrealismgainedsuchdominanceinthe
bureaucraciesanduniversitiesofthelatestandgreatestoftheanglo-
phoneglobalhegemonies?
ItistemptingtosaythatAmericanpolicy-makersignorethelessons
ofAmericanhistorybecauseAmericansareoneoftheleasthistorical-
mindedpeoplesintheworld,tendingtoagreewithHenryFord'sclaim
that"[H}istoryismoreorlessbunk."However,indi.fferenttohistoryas
manyAmericansmaybe,ineverythinghavingtodowithpoliticallife
theyare,comparedwithmostEuropeans,almostfanaticallytradition-
minded.NoEuropeanpolityhasanythingliketheAmericanloveaffair
withtheConstitution.TheFrenchdonothonorandveneratetheleaders
oftheirRevolutionasAmericansvenerateourFoundingFathers.Many
Americans,perhapsmost,considertheDeclarationofIndependence,the