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

ChangingtheParadigms 77

ditionalAnglo-AmericanideasisHenryKissinger,themanwhoasSec-
retaryofStatecarriedAmericanforeignpolicyfarthestina Continental
direction.TheenormoussuccessoftheHelsinkiAccords-negotiatedbut
atthetimenothighlyvaluedbyKissinger~ncouragedhimtoassign
greaterweighttohumanrightsissuesintheformulationofpolicy.Most
recently,inhis 2001 bookDoesAmericaNeedaForeignPolicy?,Kissinger
placeseconomicissuesatthecoreofu.S.foreignpolicyandlooksto
greatAmericanleaders likeJohnQuincyAdamsfor inspirationand
ideas.Indeed,likemanyofourgreatstrategicthinkers,Kissingerfinds
himselfinwhatI willdescribelaterastheJeffersonianschoolofAmeri-
canforeignpolicy.
Kissinger'spathholdslessonsforusall.Americansneedtorecover
intellectuallywhatourpracticaldiplomacy-anda few statesmenlike
Kissinger-havealreadyrediscovered.Weneedtobecomeawareofour
foreign policy traditions and history and learn to appreciate our
strengthsandmakeallowancesforourweaknesses.
Whatwereallyneedis amythforthetwenty-firstcenturywhichcon-
densesthosehistoricalexperiencesandrealitiesthatarerelevanttothe
conditionswefaceinthenewworldslowlytakingshapearoundus.That
mythwillhelpAmericanstoreconnect withthepre-ColdWarpast,
identifYandcelebratethequalitiesinAmericanideologyandpolitics
thathavecontributedtothenation'sremarkablesuccess,and,itistobe
hoped, createa useful framework for publicdebate over the policy
choicesthattheUnitedStatesfacesinthedecadesahead.

AMythfortheTwenty-firstCentury

Tosuggestthatweneeda newparadigmforAmericanforeignpolicy
isnottosaythatweneedtothrowouttheoldonecompletely,orthatwe
shouldmindlesslycongratulateourselvesonourmentalsuperiorityover
ourgrandparents.Afterall,theColdWarparadigmgotusthroughthe
ColdWar,andthatwasnomeanachievement.IftheUnitedStatesfaced
aninternationalemergencytodayonthescaleofthecrisisitfacedafter
WorldWarII,itis farfromcertainthatwecouldfielda teamtomatch
GeorgeMarshall,HarryTruman,GeorgeKennan,andDeanAcheson.
Nevertheless,weneeda newintellectualapproachtoforeignpolicy
thatislessattunedtothesirensongsofContinentalrealismandthat
takesgreaterheedofthequestionsandintereststhatactuallydrivethe