Wilsonianism In Changing Of International Order: Origins, Policies And Influences

Wilsonianism was President Wilson's idea and practice of modifying American traditional foreign policy and of designing the new international order. It was characterized by the special international role of the United States------taking the commitment to international justice and being its embodiment. From then on, spreading American values has become the foreign policy aim of the United States. The principles of the new world order, such as collective security, self-determination, free trade, are all based on the moral leadership of the United States.Wilsonian foreign policy embodied the anti-power politics inclination at the beginning of the twentieth century. Power politics, which inhered in the European modern diplomacy, referred to the conduct of international relations by force and threat of force, without consideration of right and justice. It was once contained by the special conditions of laissez-faire capitalism, but spurred by imperialist expansion. In this context, President Wilson saw the big question that the whole twentieth century had to encounter: what is the just international order? And how to get it?In order to answer the question, Wilson equated the American values and the principles of its political institution with the universal ones. However, such equation had no legitimacy. And what Wilson said always contradicted his foreign policy practices: The role of "world mediator" was limited by the close economic relationship between the United States and the Allies. "Peace without victory " ultimately became the absolute victory over the Central Powers in the name of "democracy vs. autocracy". Moreover, Wilson betrayed his own just principles in order to get the support to League of Nations from other great powers. The unjust means to create League of Nations that Wilson actually adopted couldn't be justified by its aims. It was Wilson himself that must be responsible for the failure of his new world order.Although Wilson failed in Paris, Wilsonianism finally conquered. The United Nations works on the principle of collective security; the confrontation with the Soviet Union cannot be understood without considering Wisonian ideological dimension. And the dominance of Wilsonianism after the Cold War implies something new in our time------the ideological aims have been the "realist" national interest of the United States.