CONTAINMENT

Containment

Containment

Introduction

America has a split personality when it comes to foreign policy. On one side we are pragmatic. The other side of our personality grows out of the mythology of American exceptionalism - that shining beacon for the rest of the world to see, the New World. ( Paterson 2001) It is this Wilsonian idealism that leads us to believe that we can and should remake the world in our image. We become missionaries. This split personality of realism and idealism has historically manifested itself in our foreign policy.

Discussion

The idealistic side of our character gets the United States into trouble. ...