Why Wilson Matters

The liberal internationalist tradition is credited with America''s greatest triumphs as a world powerΓÇöand also its biggest failures. Beginning in the 1940s, imbued with the spirit of Woodrow WilsonΓÇÖs efforts at the League of Nations to "make the world safe for democracy," the United States steered a course in world affairs that would eventually win the Cold War. Yet in the 1990s, Wilsonianism turned imperialist, contributing directly to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the continued failures of American foreign policy.
Why Wilson Matters explains how the liberal internationalist community can regain a sense of identity and purpose following the betrayal of WilsonΓÇÖs vision by the brash ΓÇ£neo-WilsonianismΓÇ¥ being pursued today. Drawing on WilsonΓÇÖs original writings and speeches, Tony Smith traces how his thinking about AmericaΓÇÖs role in the world evolved in the years leading up to and during his presidency, and how the Wilsonian tradition went on to influence American foreign policy in the decades that followedΓÇöfor good and for ill. He traces the traditionΓÇÖs evolution from its ΓÇ£classicΓÇ¥ era with Wilson, to its ΓÇ£hegemonicΓÇ¥ stage during the Cold War, to its ΓÇ£imperialistΓÇ¥ phase today. Smith calls for an end to reckless forms of U.S. foreign intervention, and a return to the prudence and ΓÇ£eternal vigilanceΓÇ¥ of WilsonΓÇÖs own time.
Why Wilson Matters renews hope that the United States might again become effectively liberal by returning to the sense of realism that Wilson espoused, one where the promotion of democracy around the world is balanced by the understanding that such efforts are not likely to come quickly and without costs.