Explanatory Historical Perspective
Four fundamental & influential realities:
Geopolitical | Ideological | Economic necessity | Pragmatic
1 . Geopolitical reality of “free security”
Three protective oceans until 1945
militia dependent until 1917
small defense costs until 1940naive diplomacy of isolationism, withdrawal, fear.
2. Ideological: National greatness coupled to the promotion of liberty
Thomas Paine, Common Sense, (1776)
Renaissance -- humane reason & utopianism
Protestant Reformation -- moral mission
Enlightenment -- republican virtue & romantic sensibility
Essential tension between domestic liberty & strong central govt.
3. Economically inevitable: Ideas & ideals
humanitarian problem solving
self-determination for subject peoples
aid & intervention: economic, social, and political expansion
Open Door Policy (Asia, 1899-1900)“the firm conviction, even dogmatic belief, that America’s domestic well-being depends upon such sustained, ever-increasing overseas economic expansion.”
“The control of policy making by the industrialists and financiers”
4. Pragmatic expansionism: revolutionary & counter-revolutionary power
Manifest Destiny ( John L. O’Sullivan, 1839)
natural right of occupationgeographical determinism
population growth
political stability (necessity)
Imperialism for the sake of national security; elimination of rivals
inequality of power based on culture & technology
Geopolitical | Ideological | Economic necessity | Pragmatic
