Four approaches to foreign policy —
I went to a talk early in November by a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign
Relations, Walter Russell Mead. With regard to foreign policy, he sorts Americans
into four types: Wilsonians, Hamiltonians, Jeffersonians, and Jacksonians. These
four, he says, appear and reappear throughout our history, and are all at play
now in this fight against Islamic terrorists.
The Wilsonians believe in an
international order based on law. They favor multilateralism, nation-building,
human rights, and high-minded intervention. They would make the anti-terror
crusade into a war for international law. Clinton was a Wilsonian.
The
Hamiltonians believe in pursuing national interests, including economic
interests, sometimes through multilateral coalitions and sometimes not. Whatever
works. They believe in international order based on a balance of power. Bush is a
Hamiltonian.
The Jeffersonians believe in defending the home territory
against clear and present threats, and worry that militarism will reduce domestic
liberty. They aren't interested in international order. Nor do they focus on
national honor, and tend to be more critical of their own country's acts abroad.
After Sept. 11 the Jeffersonians were the ones asking what America had done to
provoke such an attack.
The Jacksonians are believers in national honor,
courage, and the well-being of the majority. They are pro-military, populist,
unilateralist, and individualist. They are not interested in international law or
of "blaming America first" for breaking it. They do not seek out foreign wars,
but if they're in one, they want to win it. They opposed the war on Serbia —
Êa Wilsonian war — but were willing to commit ground troops once we were in
it. They are 100% behind the attacks on Afghanistan. John McCain might be called
a higher Jacksonian, with the lower variety being the man with a flag sticker on
his truck.
Libertarians are Jeffersonians — in theory. Judging from
what Liberty has published in its last two issues, there is a strong Jacksonian
strain in them — Êmuch more than there would be in left-wing Jeffersonians.
There is a bit of Hamilton, too. Not much of Wilson. — Bruce Ramsey
| Tim Slagle is a
stand-up comedian living in Chicago. |
|
Fanatics among us — There is a fear
in this country today that we are walking alongside evil people who want to
destroy the American way of life, even though they live here. These treacherous
people want to reduce the most prosperous nation in history to the status of a
Third World theocracy. They would prefer we were ruled by tyrannical mystics who
speak directly with God, and desire the right to intervene into every aspect of
our lives. They want to tell us what to eat, what to wear, how often we can
bathe, and restrict free travel — they would like to see the entire world
return to the technology and governance of the middle ages. I refer, of course,
to environmentalists. — Tim Slagle
|
