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

78 SPECIALPROVlDENCE

Americanforeignpolicyprocess.Inparticularweneedanapproachto
foreignpolicythathighlightsissuesthatwerediscountedbyColdWar-
erathinkingbutthatincreasinglypreoccupyustoday:economics,the
problemsofinternationalorderbuildingorglobalization,andtherela-
tionshipofdemocracyandforeignpolicy.
Economics,morality,anddemocracyarethreethingsthatContinen-
talrealismlargelyseekstobanishfromtherealmofhighinternational
politics.TheyareandinevitablywillbecentralconcernsofAmerican
foreignpolicyfarintothefuture,andAmericansneedanapproachthat,
withoutneglectingormishandlingsecurityissues,cancomfortablydeal
withthecentralissuesofourday.
Without thiskind ofnew-or, rather, old-thinking,American
policymakerswillhaveincreasingdifficultywinningdomesticsupport.
OurexternalsituationattheendoftheColdWaronceagainhasmany
similaritieswiththeinternationalpositionoftheUnitedStatesinthe
nineteenthcentury. Foronethingweareadebtornationagain,with
domesticinterestratesandeconomicconditionstosomedegreedepen-
dentontheperceptionsandtheactionsofforeigninvestors.Ourfinan-
cialmarketsaremuchmoreexposedtodevelopmentsoverseasthanthey
werefiftyyearsago-here,too,thepositionoftheUnitedStatestoday
is insomewaysmorelikeourpositionin 1890 thanin1950.Atthe
sametimetensofmillionsofAmericansnowexperiencesomethingthat
theirnineteenth-centuryancestorsunderstoodwell,butthatthoseofthe
twentiethcenturytendedtoforget:Theirlivelihoodsdependbothonthe
abilityoftheiremployerstomeetforeigncompetition,andonworld
marketpricesforthegoodsAmericansproduce-pricesthatareoften
movedbyeventsthattakeplaceoverseas.
The changes in the country's relationship to the international
economyarealreadyraisingthetemperatureoftheforeignpolicydebate.
Economicissuesdon'tjustinvolvepolicyelites;theyaffecttheinterestof
everyfamilyinthecountry.NAFTAwasoneofthemostpassionately
arguedissuesinAmericanlifeduringa periodinthe1990S.Thecon-
temporarydebatesovertariffsarestirringupsomeofthesamekindof
passionthattariffissuesdidinthenineteenthcentury;itislikely,asthe
effects ofthe U.S. internationaldeficit becomemoreapparent, that
debatesoverinterestratesandoverquestionsrelatingtothefinancial
integrationoftheUnitedStateswiththerestoftheworldwillalsogrow
moreimpassionedandmorecentraltoournationalpoliticallife.
Othermajorforeignpolicyissueswillalsorequireamindsetmore