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

198 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

toshapetheAmericanstrategicresponse.Inthefirst,tumultuousera,
Jeffersonians proposed balancingFrance'sdominantpowerinEurope
againstBritain'stoo-threateningpowerontheseas.Theyreversedcourse
followingtheWarof1812,andJeffersonianstrategicconceptslargely
dominatedAmericangrandstrategyinthedecadesfollowingtheprocla-
mationoftheMonroeDoctrine.
AsBritishpowerdeclined,Jeffersoniansopposedattemptstoenlist
theUnitedStatesinthesupportoftheBritishworldsystem,resisting
enrryintoWorldWarI andopposingUnitedStatesmembershipinthe
League ofNations. Jeffersoniansplayeda significantrole in shaping
Americanforeignpolicybetweenthetwoworldwarsandwerelargely
responsibleforinventingandpopularizingthemythofvirtuousisolation
tojustifytheirstrategicideas.BadlydamagedbythefailureofAmerican
foreignpolicybetween 1919 and 1939 tostabilizeworldpolitics,during
theColdWarJeffersoniansweregenerallyrelegatedtoa secondaryposi-
tioninforeignpolicydebatesuntiltheViernamWarrevivedinterestin
a foreign policyoflimits.
IntellectuallythefirsteraofAmericanforeign policyremainsinsome
waysthemostinteresting,andthestrategicconceptsadvancedatthat
timeweremoreradicalthananyseensince.Inparticular,whileHamil-
tonianssteadfastlybelievedthattheonlyrealpolicyfortheUnitedStates
wassomekindofalliancewithGreatBritain,Jeffersonandothersasked
whether,insteadofsidingwithBritaintobalanceanyaspiringhegemon
onthecontinentofEurope,weshouldbalancewithNapoleonagainst
Britain?Britain,afterall,wasthemostdangerouspowerintheworldto
Americaninterests.TheBritishfleetwasthemightiestmilitaryforce
thatcouldbebroughtintoactionagainsttheUnitedStates.ItwasBrit-
ishmerchantsandtraderswho,armedwiththemothercountry'sbacking
andtheirsuperioraccesstoLondonfinance,competedwithAmerican
interestsaroundtheworld.Twolandpowers,oneinEuropeandonein
NorthAmerica,wouldlimitBritain'spretensions;atthesametime,
BritishseapowerwouldkeepthecontinentalEuropeanpowerssafelyon
theirownsideoftheocean.
Atvarioustimesduringhispresidency,Jeffersonflirtedwithboth
alternatives.HecameclosesttoanalliancewithBritainwhenNapoleon
forceda weak Spanishgovernment toreturntheLouisiana Territory
(whichFrancehadcededtoSpainin1767)toFrance.AFrenchpresence
inNewOrleans,JeffersonwrotetoRobertR.Livingston,37thenAmeri-
canministertoFrance,wouldforcetheAmericansto"marryourselves"