中图分类号：D871.2文献标识码：A文章编号：1003-2738（2012）01-0193-01 Abstract: The “Manifest Destiny” is an important part in the American’s policy in history. It is so prevalent that greatly affects the American’s foreign policy. Firstly, it has an immediate impact on the formulation of U.S. foreign strategy; secondly, it affects the U.S. foreign policy “Menu”; lastly, it reveals the U.S. preferences in its policy. To get a clear view of the American’s “Manifest Destiny” is of great significance in its foreign policies.
Key words: “Manifest Destiny”；“Menu”；“Preference”
The phrase Manifest Destiny was first used by the American journalist and diplomat John Louis O"Sullivan, in an editorial supporting the annexation of Texas. The phrase appeared in the July-August 1845 edition of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review. The phrase was later used by expansionists in all political parties to justify the acquisition of California, and the Oregon Territory. By the end of the 19th century the same phrase was being applied to the proposed annexation of various islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Manifest Destiny was what the United States saw when it looked at Asia and the Far East.
With the immigration to the North America, the American culture thus created by the foundation of the Christian. In addition, the unique geopolitical factors enhanced their mission of “Manifest Destiny”. Manifest Destiny was a phrase which the Americans have the rights and obligation to survive the world. [1]. The international actors choose its foreign policy depends entirely on their perception self-correction of the international community"s perception and menu as well as the tendency of the Foreign Preference.
The significance of the menu is that the customers can select only the names listed in it, but it is meaningless without the menu. From this perspective, customers’ choices completely depend on the richness of the menu, and there is no creation by the customers. It is also a truth in the international community, especially the hegemonic power. The richness of its menu has a direct impact on the other countries, both on the international conflicts and the choice of international cooperation.
Diplomatic preference is a subjective tendency on diplomatic options. It is not only directly related to the historical tradition, but also related to the foreign policy makers’ perception of the international relations [2]. It is a direct theoretical evidence for all citizens and policy makers a common understanding of foreign policy and to explain foreign policy. It is also a country or group the focus of the display in the diplomatic options and feelings of external forces into individual self-selection.
The “Manifest Destiny” is an important part in the American’s policy in history. It is so prevalent that greatly affects the American’s foreign policy. Firstly, it has an immediate impact on the formulation of U.S. foreign strategy; secondly, it affects the U.S. foreign policy “Menu”; lastly, it reveals the U.S. preferences in its policy. To get a clear view of the American’s “Manifest Destiny” is of great significance in its foreign policies.
1. The immediate impact on the formulation of U.S. foreign strategy of “Manifest Destiny”
Certain strategies are set for certain country or class or political groups, which reflecting the interests of national, class, and political groups. The nature of the state is pursuing its interests, which determines the strategic nature of the various countries, with different content and strategy system. The political program of the state or a political party determines the properties of its strategy, namely, the class nature of the strategy. It also provides a strategic goals, tasks, and basic principles. A national strategy closely linked with politics. We can not draw the correct conclusions without knowing one country’s politics.
After the World War II, the American global strategy is mainly based on the global hegemony. Hegemony in our thinking - even if the international community is anarchy, then why must this world hegemony is played by the United States? We have a lot of answers to this question. However, there is no country like the United States to play the dominant role, because the American has a very strong economic and political power. With a strong hard power, the ideology of “Manifest Destiny” plays a moral factor inside, the hegemony thus has the basis in the policy in the America.
As the American scholar said the international community is anarchy, the national quest for power will inevitably lead to the imbalance in the development of all countries. This imbalance will lead to hegemony, then it is normalized by the U.S. [3] He said these words when he convinced the hegemony of the U.S. can have a better "global governance". Behind this is the manifest destiny. After the World War II, the United States jumped to the world"s hegemonic power status, based on its unique geographical factors and a powerful economy, with the superb leading status, the American convinced their status of the world leader.
Many Americans agreed that the United States had embarked upon a special experiment in freedom and democracy―and a rejection of Old World monarchy in favor of republicanism―an innovation of world historical importance. President Abraham Lincoln"s description, in his December 1, 1862 message to Congress, of the United States as "the last, best hope of Earth" is a well-known expression of this idea. Lincoln"s Gettysburg Address, in which he interpreted the Civil War as a struggle to determine if any nation with democratic ideals could survive, has been called by historian Robert Johannsen "the most enduring statement of America"s Manifest Destiny and mission". Lincoln opposed Southern sectionalism, anti-immigrant nativism, and the imperialism of Manifest Destiny as both unjust and unreasonable. He believed each of these disordered forms of love threatened the inseparable moral and fraternal bonds of liberty and Union that he sought to perpetuate through a patriotic love of country guided by wisdom and critical self-awareness. Lincoln"s "Eulogy to Henry Clay", June 6, 1852 provides the most cogent expression of his reflective patriotism.
2. The affects of the “Manifest Destiny” on the U.S. foreign policy “Menu”
The United States’ blueprint for global domination is developed in the United States diplomatic menu. The ideology of Manifest Destiny legalizes the American to select the "free world" or "communist world" on their foreign menu, so as to distinguish between the "enemy" and "Friends". We can easily find this standard in formulating its foreign policy menu from the Truman Doctrine of the neo-interventionism. To the customers in restaurants, they do not concern the recipes out of the menu, because they know there is limitation in their choice. The same is true in the principle of the country"s foreign policy menu. The menu of a country"s foreign policy, in a sense, is a country"s foreign policy of "selection criteria" or "bottom line". The menu selection is in the "selection criteria" in the interest of a country"s national will, otherwise blind selection means that a country"s national security challenges.
The international community and the historical facts repeatedly proved the above theory, especially after the beginning of the cold war. The causes of the Vietnam War still puzzled many Americans. Why the U.S. is willing to stop the "domino effect" at the cost of war? The best answer as far as I am concerned can date back to the Vietnamese response to the limitations of U.S. foreign menu recipes. In other words, the Vietnamese government refused to select the menu of U.S. foreign policy thus it hurt the interests of the U.S. The Vietnamese Government failed to establish a free world which was listed on the “Menu”. Thus it gave the U.S. government the illusion - Vietnamese behavior is challenging U.S. hegemony authority. Based on this consideration, the U.S. government launched the war to reconstruct the free world of the Vietnam. However, the outcome proved the rationality of U.S. foreign policy menu has been questioning till today.
The war led many Americans began to reflect on the self-support policy of hegemony, and the Americans questioned this policy on whether it worked. However, the war in terms of the other members of the international community: The United States welcomes and respect the choice of the countries, and hope to establish friendship with these countries, to cooperate actively in order to create peace in the world. First of all, the countries of this conclusion is pan-national freedom of choice in the world; followed by whether such friendly relations can achieve broad consensus with the American; lastly, the creation of a peace world must be in the U.S. rule. Thus we can see the Manifest Destiny plays an invisible hand in the diplomatic menu of the U.S, wrapped beautifully inside the U.S. foreign strategy.
3. The influence of “Manifest Destiny” on the American foreign preference
The determination and courage to create a free world by the U.S. broke the shackles of history and tradition, and the genetic European political thought easier to choose the free world as their allies are. Whether to accept "alien world" countries is not due to geopolitical factors but the U.S. foreign preference. The U.S. government is established in accordance with the ideological organization of Locke"s “separation of powers ". Most countries in Western Europe is also in accordance with that principle. So they have a common meaning in political ideology: the "democratic countries". The Soviet Union after World War II was established by Western scholars in accordance with the principle of "democratic centralism" that is "authoritarian state". The Soviet Union and the United States, they have diffusions in their political ideology, thus their relationship and negotiation are fragile and weak, which made them extremely reluctant to acknowledge each other’s hegemony position in the world. The hegemony ideology decelerated the pace of the United States and Western European countries to build alliances. To bridge the gap of free and autocratic world in the ideological consistency of identity, and defeat the non-free world by containment and split are the diplomatic preferences is located in the United States.
The United States won the European heredity in its diplomatic policies, no wonder it will pay more attention with their European relatives. Why did it select Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea as allies’ relationship? It is decided by the diplomatic preferences. The Manifest Destiny convinced the American themselves that the American system is a model of the world"s best system, and they actively advocate and persuade other countries to adopt the same system. The establishment of the U.S. alliance with Japan and South Korea are first based on Japan and South Korea’s support of the free world; secondly, because of Japan and South Korea are fear of the "communist world", so it is easy to adopt that democratic system; thirdly, Japan and South Korea acknowledged the leader position of U.S. in the world.
After the Second World War, the United States keeps on expanding the territory of the free world "mission" even at the cost of the war, as the empirical example of Korean and Vietnam wars. These two wars made Americans remember that the "domino effect" made by the red political power of the Communist Party will greatly weaken the foundation of the liberal democracy in the world. The call of the world proletariat to unite the free world uneasy the American, thus the United States accelerated the pace of establishing a "free and democratic government". This tendency can not be both in the free world and the communist world to find out the impartial position of the United States and democratic attitude, and only revealed the dedication to support some kind of bias. This support attempted to describe the full advantages of the free world. Americans strongly supported their diplomatic preferences of the free world government to establish a broad coalition of those who actively supported and strongly commended. They believe that Americans of Manifest Destiny has sufficient reason to convince Americans that their diplomatic preferences is a fair and democratic, but once the free world internal war happens, it will conclude it to the "glorious isolation" of the "right" position. Thus we can see the Americans talent mission diplomatic preferences.
参考文献：
[1]聂福英.“天赋使命”观对美国外交的影响[J].世界华商经济年鉴学术探讨.2009（10）.
[2]默里(Williamson Murray)(美),诺克斯(Macgregor Knox(英),伯恩斯坦(Alvin Bernstein) (美). 时殷弘等译.缔造战略:统治者、国家与战争[M].p(230)世界知识出版社,2004.
[3]米尔斯海默(Me-heitner, J.J.) .王义桅，唐小松译.大国政治的悲剧[M].P(180)上海人民出版社,2003.