The US was not always keen to play a global
role. After gaining its independence from Britain, the US sought to limit its
involvement in international affairs and avoid competition with foreign powers.
In particular, a clear majority of the Founding
Fathers of the new republic insisted that America should avoid
involvement in the Political intrigues and power rivalries of Europe. (One can
imagine how shocked they Would be today to learn of
the global involvement of
the US from Afghanistan to Argentina, from Kosovo to Korea.) In his farewell
address in 1796, President George Washington set out guidelines for American
foreign policy that found widespread Approval. ‘‘The great rule of conduct for
us in regard to foreign nations is in extending Our commercial relations but to
have with them as little political connections as pos-Sible. It is our true
policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the Foreign
world.’’
This policy of non-entanglement or isolationism from other countries thus
has a long Historical tradition. Apart from broad agreement on isolationism,
there was no con-Sensus among the Founding Fathers as to what principles should
guide US foreign Policy. Indeed the differences between the idealists and
realists led to rival ideological Camps that persist to this day. In the
idealist camp were the likes of Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, who believed
that the new nation could and should make a sharp Break with the past and
conduct a foreign policy guided by law and reason, not power Politics.
Jefferson claimed that power and force had been legitimate principles in the Past,
but that in the new era of democracy and law, relations between nations should
be Guided by a code of morality.
Representing the realist camp, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay took a
quite dif-Ferent perspective. Hamilton attacked the notion that increased trade
would lead to Perpetual peace. Jay went further in arguing that nations in
general would make war Whenever they had a prospect of gaining an advantage. As
far as Hamilton and Jay were Concerned, America would have to be guided by
sober national interest just like any Other country. Although the US would be
sympathetic to other countries seeking Freedom, democracy, and independence,
its early leaders agreed that it should not Become involved directly in such
struggles (Kramnick 1987). In the words of Secretary Of State, John Quincy
Adams, America does not go abroad ‘‘in search of monsters to Destroy. She will
recommend the general cause (of freedom and independence) by the Countenance of
her voice, and by the benign sympathy of her example’’ (lafeber 1965).
Adams’s words were interpreted as applying to territory outside North
America Because, in the first half of the nineteenth century, the US was engaged
in a military Campaign to conquer the western territories from native Americans
and Mexico. In Another pronouncement that was a mixture of idealism and
realism, the US let it be Known that it would not welcome any outside
interference in the western hemisphere, a Policy statement made by President
Monroe in 1823 that later became known as the ‘‘Monroe Doctrine.’’ Developing a
foreign policy for the new republic entailed reconciling not just the Divide
between idealists and realists, but also the competing interests of the
country’s Different regions. Northerners were interested in developing an
industrial base and Therefore sought tariffs (taxes on imports) to protect
their manufactured goods. South- Erners depended heavily upon the export of
cotton and other crops and thus opposed The protective tariffs sought by the
north. In addition to divergent foreign trade policy Priorities of the north
and south, there were also fundamental social and cultural
differences
(e.g. over the issue of slavery) that culminated in the Civil War of 1861–5. In
the aftermath of the Civil War, in which over half a million Americans lost
their lives, the US concentrated on re-building the devastated south, expanding
its economy, and healing social divisions. But as the turn of the century
approached, the US began to flex its muscles. It started to construct a
formidable navy and simultaneously began to push its weight around in the
Caribbean and Pacific. In 1898 it provoked
conflict with Spain over Cuba and then in the same year proceeded to
establish colonial rule in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines. The
reasons for this change in policy were complex. For some Americans, it was simply
time for their country to enjoy the fruits of being a great power. The US had developed
a strong economy; it should therefore have an international voice commen-surate
with its new status. Others argued that the US was ‘‘a nation apart’’ and had a
‘‘manifest destiny,’’ which involved a moral mission to promote liberty and
democracy around the world, and to protect Latin America from European
imperialism. According to one historian, many influential Americans of the time
simply liked
the
smell of empire and felt an urge to range themselves among the colonial powers of
the time, to see our flag flying on distant tropical isles, to feel the thrill of
for-eign adventure and authority, to bask in the sunshine of recognition as one
of the great imperial powers of the world.
(Kennan
1984: 17) The increased power of the federal government after the upheaval of
the Civil War also played a role. National leaders were able to allocate more
resources to support the military, a necessary buttress to a more assertive
foreign policy (Zakaria 1998).
Throughout
the nineteenth century the US continued to proclaim that its ideas were universal
but did little to export them to other countries. This would change in the twentieth
century. President Theodore Roosevelt was the first occupant of the White House
to acknowledge the importance of the balance of power and a keen proponent of a
more robust American approach to world affairs. During his presidency
(1905–09), the US intervened in Haiti (as it would do at the end of the
twentieth century) and helped Panama secede from Colombia, thus paving the way
for the Panama Canal to be completed. In a first effort at global mediation, in
1905, Roosevelt invited representa-tives from Japan and Russia to sign a peace
treaty, the Treaty of Portsmouth, in the US.
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