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Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World 1st Edition

by
Walter Russell Mead (Author)
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Walter Russell Mead (Author), Richard C. Leone (Foreword)
4.5 out of 5 stars 40 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0415935364
ISBN-10: 0415935369
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Routledge; 1st edition (September 6, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0415935369
  • ISBN-13: 978-0415935364
  • Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.1 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsWow.
By C. Elliott on November 19, 2001
Format: Hardcover
Just wow.
Mead contends that American foreign policy has been the most successful foreign policy in history and this book is an exploration of what Americans need to do to continue that success into the 21st century.
Mead begins by exploring the history of American foreign policy from the founding of the republic to the present. He successfully dispels the myth that the United States spent the 19th century in some kind of virtuous isolation and places many of the political and economic events in a foreign policy context.
Just as Mead dispels the myth of virtuous isolation, he seeks a new myth to explain the success of American foreign policy. A myth, he explains, is a way of condensing complex topics into a set of notions which everyone can easily discuss in a reasonably informed manner. His myth is based on our particular strengths as a democracy, the notion that competing schools fight for control over our foreign policy. The result, he claims, is that every portion of our society is represented in our approach to the world.
The next chapters describe each of the schools in turn. Mead ends the text with a cautionary but hopeful note about where America needs to go to maintain its success.
On top of all this substantive discussion, the book is a compelling read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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5.0 out of 5 starsRe-evaluating America's Foreign Policy History
By James Tudor on July 26, 2002
Format: Hardcover
Walter Mead's Special Providence belies the historical myth of American foreign policy. Mead challenges the idea that American foreign policy was non-existent or amateurish before World War II. Mead argues and capably supports that the United States has a unique and rich tradition in its dealings in International Relations. Mead asserts that this policy is a product of our American democracy; a form of government that many argue is inferior when dealing in foreign affairs. However as a product of American society, a number of voices and ideals have tempered a policy that has done exceptionally well, judging by our rise to power and status today.
"American foreign policy rests on a balance of contrasting, competing voices and values - it is a symphony - or tries to be, rather than a solo," asserts Mead. Escaping the typical and lacking descriptions of realist versus idealist, Mead illuminates four active voices within America. Each voice is complicated enough that any elaboration I give here will be lacking. However, the names of the schools should give you the idea. The Hamiltonians, Jacksonians, Jeffersonians, and Wilsonians make up the America's collection of competing schools of thought. Mead concedes that the names are not historically accurate. But he makes a strong case, leading the reader to re-evaluate American foreign policy history - providing historical antidotes of each school in action. Mead treats each school with respect and supplies a convincing intellectual argument for each. Special Providence is a delight to read. This paradigm of the four schools provides deeper insight and understanding of American politics in the international arena, and even to a lesser extent on the domestic side. Meads insights are lightly glazed with wit. I found myself laughing out loud numerous times. I recommend this book to anyone with the slighted predilection for international relations or American history.
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4.0 out of 5 starsFascinating. What does it say about the post-9/11 world?
By John E. Mennel on March 13, 2002
Format: Hardcover
Mead's Special Providence is at its best in describing the four historical schools of American foreign policy. His framework is apt at explaining the motivations and actions of the major political figures and movements and applies in many cases to domestic policy debates as well. It also rings true with my gut feeling that binary classifications - isolationist/internationalist, hawk/dove, right/left, Democrat/Republican - do not really have a lot of explanatory or predictive power, at least since the end of the Cold War.
His conclusions are also thought provoking though not terribly well developed or convincing. Is the American foreign policy elite really much more out of touch with the American "folk" than it was fifty years ago? Have "Jeffersonian" - constitutionalist, small government - voices really been marginalized since the collapse of the Soviet Union? Does the US democratic system still provide a key advantage over Europe in formulating and executing successful policy? These are all really important questions, but I wish Mead had either left them as such or spent more time arguing his conclusions. The last two chapters are the only weak part of the book.
And, although he can't be faulted for it, I found myself wishing that the book were published later in the George W. Bush administration and, particularly, after September 11. He makes the conventional point that there are different voices in the Bush administration. But, is Bush himself a Hamiltonian (commercialist) in Jacksonian (populist) clothing or the opposite? Also, is our reaction to September 11 the key event that points the way forward for America's post-Cold War role in the world or simply a manifestation of the Jacksonian impulse to fight a total war once provoked?
Despite the weaknesses I noted, the fact that Mead has me thinking about these issues and caring what he would have to say about them shows what a really good bock Special Providence is. I highly recommend it.
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5.0 out of 5 starsMead as a text in Japan
By R. B. Parker on October 28, 2002
Format: Hardcover
I have found Mead's book very valuable for explaining American foreign policy to Japanese graduate and undergraduate students. The great advantage of the book is that it rises above the battles over particular policy decisions and gives an aerial view of the various historical and social forces that go into the formation of American foreign policy.
The chapters on Jacksonianism and Wilsonianism are especially useful in explaining American reactions to September 11th and conflicting American attitudes about America's role in the world. These chapters are so good that they are worth the laborious process of working through the English text with Japanese students. Mead writes well with an absence of jargon and an impressive array of interesting observations. I hope that a Japanese translation is in the works.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Outstanding book by an outstanding author. Thoughtful and insightful.

Published 1 month ago by The Wizard
3.0 out of 5 starsInteresting but dry

Ok book. I needed it for a graduate class. Interesting read but dry at times.

Published 2 months ago by LuxuryTravel
5.0 out of 5 starsHundreds of years explained

Mead breaks down hundreds of years of American political evolution into four nicely defined schools of thought and goes on to explain each in great detail. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Trevor Merris
5.0 out of 5 starsU. S. Foreign Policy Schools of Thought

As a former student of American Diplomatic History, I found Mead's book quite interesting, especially his effective classification of the four groups. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsI was pleasantly surprised by how easy the book is to read

Had to purchase this for a grad school course and initially dreaded having to read yet another lengthy book; however, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the book is to read, as... Read more

Published 11 months ago by Chris
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

A clear and easily digestible analysis of American foreign policy tendencies as they've evolved over the centuries.

Published 15 months ago by David B
5.0 out of 5 starsThe history that most of us don't know.

Walter Russell Mead tells the story of American foreign policy, which was much more active in our early history than we usually think.

Published 22 months ago by Gary A. Glynn
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat read for anyone interested in the US and the world (which should...

Really made me rethink my perspective on US foreign policy. I had fallen for the myth that (in brief) the US was either isolationist or trying to take on the world. Read more

Published on June 12, 2013 by Dad 2 a wee nipper
4.0 out of 5 starsVery interesting book

This is a very interesting book with a unique perspective in understanding American foreign policy and American political culture in general. Read more

Published on May 6, 2013 by Anthony
4.0 out of 5 starsThe book was as represented by the seller

Having recently 'discovered' WRM and his blog, I became interested in this book. I haven't read much of it; but I find his basic premise more than interesting...

Published on November 26, 2012 by Willenergy

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