Democracy and Imperialism: Irving Babbitt and Warlike Democracies PDF
Preview Democracy and Imperialism: Irving Babbitt and Warlike Democracies
Revised Pages Democracy and Imperialism After costly US engagement in two major wars in the Middle East, foreign policy debates are dominated by questions about the appropriateness of American mili- tary interventions. A central issue is whether an interventionist foreign policy is compatible with the American constitutional tradition and the temperament this tradition requires. The book examines the unique contribution made by Irving Babbitt (1865– 1933) to understanding the quality of foreign policy leadership in a democracy. Babbitt explored how a democratic nation’s foreign policy is a product of the moral and cultural tendencies of its leaders and how the substitution of expan- sive, sentimental Romanticism for the religious and ethical traditions of the West would lead to imperialism. Democracies that lack political restraint and tend toward plebiscitary practices and outcomes are more likely to be warlike and imperialistic. The United States has been moving away from the restraining order of sound constitutionalism and in- creasingly trying to impose its will on other nations, a trend that will inevitably cause the United States to clash with the “civilizational” regions that have emerged in recent decades. How to address the problem of tension between civilizations is a subject to which Babbitt, showing characteristic foresight, devoted much attention. This book brings the question of soul types to issues of foreign policy leadership and discusses the qualities in leaders that are necessary for sound foreign policy. William S. Smith is Research Fellow and Managing Director of the Center for the Study of Statesmanship at the Catholic University of America. Revised Pages Revised Pages Democracy and Imperialism Irving Babbitt and Warlike Democracies William S. Smith University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor Revised Pages Copyright © 2019 by William S. Smith All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by the University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid- free paper First published August 2019 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication data has been applied for. ISBN 978- 0- 472- 13153- 2 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978- 0- 472- 12593- 7 (e- book) Cover credit: US Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner. Revised Pages To Laura Amor Vinci Omnia Revised Pages Revised Pages Acknowledgments T.S. Eliot wrote of Irving Babbitt, “To have been once a pupil of Babbitt’s was to always remain in that position . . . His ideas are permanently with one, as a measurement and test of one’s own.” Such sentiments reflect mine regarding my mentor, Professor Claes Ryn of The Catholic University of America. Professor Ryn’s personal support for my academic work, extending now over many de- cades, has only been surpassed by the influence of his ideas on my own and their relevance to the contemporary challenges of the United States. This book would not have been possible without my wife, Laura. When I left a business career and pursued a path in academia, she offered the same unwavering support and encouragement that she has always provided to all of our family. My thanks also to my dear children, Therese, Burke, and Margaret, for their interest in their father’s new endeavors, and their understanding about how important this subject is to me. I would like to offer additional words of gratitude to our friends and family whose constant enthusiasm provided needed ballast to my work, especially Page and Katie Wilson, Patrick and Jennifer Donovan, Dana Nickel, Celeste Wilson, and Nadia Schadlow. I am grateful to the superb team at the Harvard University Archives where Irving Babbitt’s papers are held. I also cannot neglect to note my admiration for my colleagues at Catholic University who courageously pursue a constant stream of ideas that will not ingratiate them to the foreign policy establishment, a mark of distinction. viii acknowledgments My editors at the University of Michigan Press, Elizabeth Demers and Kevin Rennells, are consummate professionals and they made the load of such a challenging project so much lighter. Finally, to the men and women of the American military and their families, who have borne the terrible burden of America’s recent wars of choice, may you be blessed with temperate leaders like George Washington, who understood that America’s true calling is to be a virtuous republic, not an empire. Revised Pages Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Babbitt and Human Nature 17 Chapter 2 Modernity as Naturalism 29 Chapter 3 Two Types of Democracy 53 Chapter 4 Democracy as Revolution 77 Chapter 5 Democracy as Imperialism 99 Chapter 6 True and False Cosmopolitanism 139 Chapter 7 Babbitt and Contemporary Theories of World Order 155 Conclusion 177 Notes 183 Bibliography 203 Index 209 Digital materials related to this title can be found on the Fulcrum platform via the following citable URL: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11301249
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