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

ChangingtheParadigms 73

beaddressedina pragmaticway.TheUnitedStateswouldloseprestige
ifit withdrewtooprecipitatelyorwasseento"lose"thewar;atthesame
time,itdidn'tmattermuchwhowouldberunningVietnamintenyears'
tIme.
Economicissuesscarcelyexistedfortheadministration.Foraneco-
nomicallyfocusedforeignpolicy,theslowerosionoftheBrettonWoods
systemoffixedexchangeratesbasedontheAmericandollarwouldhave
beenseenastheprimarythreattoUnitedStatesinterestsandthehealth
oftheanti-Sovietcoalitionin1969-athreatfargreaterthananything
HoChiMinhcouldeverassembleinthefar-offjunglesofIndochina.
UndertheBrettonWoodssystemestablishedduringthe194os,theU.S.
FederalReserveSystemwasthedefactocentralbankforallthemarket
economies;theUnitedStatescouldeffectivelycontrolthemonetarypoli-
ciesofallitsallies,anditgenerallydidsointheinterestofthedomestic
Americaneconomy--oftentotheirritationofitspartners.Hadtradi-
tionallyorientedAmericandiplomatslikeAlexanderHamilton,Andrew
Mellon,orHenryMorgenthaubeendirectingpolicy,Americanforeign
policyintheNixonyearswouldhavefocusedoneitherstrengthening
BrettonWoodsormitigatingtheconsequencesofitsfall.Thesolemn
andoft-repeatedU.S.pledgestoourkeyColdWarallies andtrading
partnerstoredeempaperdollarsingoldata fixedpriceofthirty-fivedol-
larsanouncewouldhavefaroutweighedanypromisestoSaigon.Forthe
Nixonadministrationthisperspectiveseemstohavebeentoofarfetched
tobeseriouslyconsidered,muchlessadoptedasthebasisforAmerican
policy.
ThemethodsofNixon'sforeignpolicywereas Continentalasthe
substance.Congresswasfrozenourofforeignpolicyasmuchaspossible,
andtheadministrationattemptedtowithholdvitalinformationabour
militaryandintelligenceoperationsfromthelegislatorsresponsiblefor
fundingthem.Withintheexecutivebranch,powerwasconcentratedto
anunprecedenteddegree,as normalbureaucraticchannelsanddepart-
mentswereignored.Asmallnetworkofofficialsoperatedthe"real"for-
eignpolicy ofthe UnitedStates; Nixon's conceptofforeignpolicy
requiredthepersonaldirectionofa singleguidingmind-anauteur
ratherthana studio.
TheNixonadministrationwasnotwithoutitssuccesses.Theopen-
ingtoBeijingchangedtheglobalbalanceofpower,makingU.S.victory
inthe ColdWarmorelikelywhile reducingthechancesofa direct
U.S.-Sovietconfrontationalongtheway.Thestrategicarmslimitation
agreementalsobroughta welcomestabilitytorelationsbetweenthetwo