“we have more people in military bands than we have Foreign Service officers.”
— Robert Gates, current and future Secretary of Defense, in what is sure to be an oft-cited quote as the Obama Administration unveils a new diplomatic offensive.
2D Foreign Policy
I think this is about as good a way to frame the foreign policy debate as you’re going to find — at least in two dimensions. (hat tip: Ross Douthat)
A big problem these last few years was the unusual — and quite destructive — alliance, or at least confluence of interests, between the neocon Wilsonians and the conservative Jacksonians. (Others might even say the Wilsonians slyly co-opted the worst instincts of the Jacksonians to achieve their policy goals.) It would appear at first glance that these groups are opposites, but that’s partly a defect in this 2D model. There are lots of meeting points among Hamiltonians and Jeffersonians, too, that aren’t apparent from a quick look at the chart.
To expand the chart’s analytical power, we’d need to add a dimension or two. For example, Hamiltonians are “extroverted” commercially, while Wilsonians are “extroverted” militarily. But that distinction isn’t entirely captured by the “idealist/realist” duality.
