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

ChangingtheParadigms 71

fessionsorexposecitizenstolossofcivilemploymentorthethreatof
criminalprosecutionwasa novelandrepulsiveinnovationforeignto
everysentimentoftheBillofRights.FormanyColdWarriors,however,
anexpansiveconceptofcivillibertieswasoneoftheillusionsthata vir-
ginalColumbiahadpickedupinherconvent;nowthatwehadcomeof
agewewouldhavetonarrowourconceptsoflibertyatthesametime
thatwestrengthenedourstate.
SocialandculturalfactorsalsopushedtheUnitedStatestowardCon-
tinentalrealism.Theold,AnglocentricWASPestablishmentthathad
longledthenation'sforeignpolicylostmuchofitspowerandinfluence
duringtheColdWaryears,andthenewestablishmentthatroseinits
placelackedboththeintuitivegraspoftheAnglo-Americantradition
andthepersonalhistoryofcontactwithBritishleadersthathadshaped
theoldelite.Someofthisshiftreflectedthegrowingegalitarianismof
Americanlife,asdescendantsofturn-of-the-centuryimmigrantsrapidly
climbedsocialandprofessionalladdersinthepost-WorldWarII climate
ofopportunity.SomereflectedthechangesinthestrucrureofAmerican
financialandcorporateleadershipas powermovedfrom a handfulof
firmsbasedmostlyonWallStreetandasrivalregionalfinancialandcor-
poratepowercentersgainedstrengthinthedecadesfollowing World
WarII.Massaccesstohighereducationinthe1950Screatednewcohorts
ofacademics and foreign policy professionals whose personal back-
groundsowedlittletoEngland,andwhoseuniversityeducationdrew
lessandlessfromtraditionalBritishideasofliberaleducation.
The Cold Waryears were also the years ofaccelerating British
decline.WhenthesunneversetontheBritishEmpire,itspoliciesand
itshistorycommandedthefascinatedattentionandrespectofenvious
Americans.Thedingy,dull,anddecliningBritainoftheColdWarpos-
sessedfewsuchattractionsforrisingAmericangenerations,andasthe
memories ofBritish greatness faded, Americans rarely thought any
longerofBritishforeignpolicyasa sourceofinspiration.
As Britain'ssunset,theRussianstarrose. Stalin'sdiplomacyhad
beena modelofContinentalcynicismandguile;hiscontemptuousdis-
missalofpapalpower-"Oho!ThePope! Howmanydivisionshashe
got?"9-couldserveasa succinctsummaryofthestrategicthinkingof
Continentalrealism.TheStaliniststate-secretive,centralized,ableto
commandandconcentratethefullresourcesofitssocietyintheserviceof
internationalambitions,andaccountabletonopublicopinion-was,
from a Continentalperspective,oneofthemostadmirablyequipped
scorpionsevertoscrabbleagainsttheglasswallsoftheEuropeanbottle.