Woodrow Wilson and the American Diplomatic Tradition

Abstract

Woodrow Wilson's contributions to the creation of the League of Nations as well as his failures in the Senate battles over the Versailles treaty are stressed in this account of his leadership in international affairs.

Indonesia’s Prospects As World Class Maritime Power

“…Internationalism not only used for conducting an international cooperation and gains the image of good etiquettes in the eyes of global government, the word internationalism moreover liberal internationalism classified into fourteen points by one of the great internationalist, the United States President, Woodrow Wilson [19], internationalism used to defines the new American foreign policy which also as the contradictory of former American foreign policy which based on the theory of isolationism [20]. Theory of internationalism meant to the establishment of the global government to lower the sovereignty of a country in purpose to expect a country foreign policy to have more consideration into the world peace and domestic prosperity [1], certainly internationalism only effectively applied to a country with a high number of national power, as we cannot denied that the condition of international relations is in anarchy [21]; however the liberal internationalism substance also effectively applied into specific regional relations and bilateral cooperation as the recent Indonesia foreign policies strengthen the relations within ASEAN in order to effectively compete in international relations.…”

The Myth of American Isolationism

“…The second reason, related to the first, is that the considerable majority proved willing to envision engagement with Europe. Only a small group of so‐called Irreconcilables consistently voted against the Treaty in any form, (Stone 1970; Margulies 1989) and even they were not opposed to internationalism in general—a fact evidenced by the support of some for an immediate Anglo‐American defensive treaty with France (Ambrosius 1987:108, 213) and of others for an international judiciary to keep the peace (p. 12, below). Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Wilson's principal opponent on the League issue, specifically denied that ‘‘when Washington [sic] warned us against entangling alliances he meant for one moment that we should not join with the other civilized nations of the world if a method could be found to diminish war and encourage peace.’’ 14…”

American Democratic Interventionism: Romancing the Iconic Woodrow Wilson

“…Wilson maintained that it was not surprising that the United States crossed a large ocean to bring democracy to the people of the Philippines, when it had, in fact, crossed a large continent to do the same (Wrobel 1993:71). He openly supported the new imperial role of the United States and drew on Social Darwinism and the Social Gospel to do so (Ambrosius 1987:3). However, his distinctiveness early on was the way in which he put the concept of democracy at the center of the policy of military intervention.…”

“…The story of American political development is for Wilson a story of keeping “ideals clear, unmarred, commanding” (Gardner 1984:27). America in comparison to Europe is, according to Wilson, “a virgin continent”(Ambrosius 1987:10). European wars and aristocratic excess easily trumped the American Civil War or western settlement as examples of undemocratic or corrupt political traditions.…”

“…In addition, “they must first love order and instinctively yield to it. We are old in this learning and must be their tutors” (Ambrosius 1987:11). Wilson understood that the United States would be experimenting with its knowledge of democratic self‐government in its territories, but he was convinced this would have a positive moral and spiritual impact on both the United States and the countries it now governed.…”