Wilsonianism, or Wilsonian idealism, is a certain type of foreign policy advice. The term comes from the ideas and proposals of United States President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

. He issued his famous

Fourteen Points The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress ...

in January 1918 as a basis for ending

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and promoting

world peace World peace is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about. Various relig ...

. He was a leading advocate of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

to enable the international community to avoid wars and end hostile aggression. Wilsonianism is a form of ''liberal democratic internationalism''.

Principles

Common principles that are often associated with Wilsonianism include: * Advocacy of the spread of

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

Anne-Marie Slaughter Anne-Marie Slaughter (born September 27, 1958) is an American international lawyer, foreign policy analyst, political scientist, and public commentator. From 2002 to 2009, she was the dean of Princeton University's School of Public and Intern ...

writes that Wilson expected and hoped that "democracy would result from self-determination, but he never sought to spread democracy directly."Anne-Marie Slaughter, "Wilsonianism in the Twenty-first Century" in ''The Crisis of American Foreign Policy: Wilsonianism in the Twenty-first Century'' (eds. G. John Ikenberry, Thomas J. Knock, Anne Marie-Slaughter & Tony Smith: Princeton University Press, 2009), pp. 94-96. Slaughter writes that Wilson's League of Nations was similarly intended to foster liberty and democracy by serving as "a high wall behind which nations", especially small nations, "could exercise their right of self determination" but that Wilson did not envision that the United States would affirmatively intervene to "direct" or "shape" democracies in foreign nations. * Conferences and bodies devoted to resolving conflict, especially the

and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. * Emphasis on

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

of peoples. * Advocacy of the spread of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

. * Support for

collective security Collective security is arrangement between states in which the institution accepts that an attack on one state is the concern of all and merits a collective response to threats by all. Collective security was a key principle underpinning the Lea ...

, and at least partial opposition to

American isolationism United States non-interventionism primarily refers to the foreign policy that was eventually applied by the United States between the late 18th century and the first half of the 20th century whereby it sought to avoid alliances with other nations ...

. * Support for open diplomacy and opposition to

secret treaties ''Secret Treaties'' is the third studio album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on April 5, 1974 by Columbia. It features the same band members and production team as their previous album. The album spent 14 weeks in the US a ...

. * Support for

freedom of navigation Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of law of the sea that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states when in international waters, apart from the exceptions provided for in international ...

and

freedom of the seas Freedom of the seas is a principle in the law of the sea. It stresses freedom to navigate the oceans. It also disapproves of war fought in water. The freedom is to be breached only in a necessary international agreement. This principle was on ...

. * Belief that the foreign policies of democracies are morally superior because the people under democracies are inherently peace-loving. Historian Joan Hoff writes, "What is 'normal' Wilsonianism remains contested today. For some, it is 'inspiring

liberal internationalism Liberal internationalism is a foreign policy doctrine that supports international institutions, open markets, cooperative security, and liberal democracy. At its core, it holds that states should participate in international institutions that up ...

' based on adherence to self-determination; for others, Wilsonianism is the exemplar of

humanitarian intervention Humanitarian intervention is the Use of force in international law, use or threat of military force by a state (or states) across borders with the intent of ending severe and widespread human rights violations in a state which has not given permi ...

around the world,' making U.S. foreign policy a paragon of carefully defined and restricted use of force."Joan Hoff, ''A Faustian Foreign Policy from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush: Dreams of Perfectability'' (Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 61. Amos Perlmutter defined Wilsonianism as simultaneously consisting of "liberal internationalism, self-determination, nonintervention, humanitarian intervention" oriented in support of

, open diplomacy,

American exceptionalism American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is either distinctive, unique, or exemplary compared to other nations. Proponents argue that the Culture of the United States, values, Politics of the United States, political system ...

, and free and

open borders An open border is a border that enables free movement of people and often of goods between jurisdictions with no restrictions on movement and is lacking a border control. A border may be an open border due to intentional legislation allowing fr ...

, and opposed to

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. According to University of Chicago political theorist

Adom Getachew Adom Getachew is an Ethiopian-American political scientist. She is Professor of Political Science and Race, Diaspora & Indigeneity at the University of Chicago. She is the author of '' Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determin ...

, Wilson's version of self-determination was a reassociation of an idea that others had previously imbued with different meanings. Wilson's version of self-determination "effectively recast self-determination as a racially differentiated principle, which was fully compatible with imperial rule."

Wilsonian moment

The Wilsonian moment was a time in the wake of the First World War in which many of those in the colonized world hoped that the time had come for the pre-war world order, which placed the Western powers at the top and marginalized the majority of the rest of the world, to be demolished and non-European nations would be given their rightful place.Erez Manela
is a key historian of the Wilsonian moment, having produced work on the topic which include case studies on the Wilsonian moment in Egypt, Korea, China, and India. He aimed to address the fact that the significance of Wilsonianism in Asia and Africa had received little attention from scholars. The reaction in the colonized world was largely the result of Wilson's

speech on 8 January 1918, in which Wilson advocated the formation of a "general association of nations", "for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike". He declared in a subsequent speech to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

on February 8, 1918, that in the post-war peace settlement "national aspirations must be respected" and people could only be governed "by their own consent". Self-determination was not "a mere phrase" but an "imperative principle of action". Wilson's words launched an atmosphere of intense optimism and hope amongst marginalized peoples in all corners of the globe. Erez Manela argues that by December 1918, shortly before the

Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) The Paris Peace Conference was a set of formal and informal diplomatic meetings in 1919 and 1920 after the end of World War I, in which the victorious Allies set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers. Dominated by the leaders of Br ...

, Wilson was "a man of almost transcendent significance". Wilson's rhetoric certainly had an impact in Asian nations, including India, where he was hailed as "The Modern Apostle of Freedom" by Indian nationalist

Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi (26 October 1890 – 25 March 1931) was an Indian journalist, a leader of the Indian National Congress and an independence movement activist. He was an important figure in the non-cooperation movement and the freedom mo ...

, and in China, where Wilson's words were viewed as a crucial opportunity to improve China's situation domestically and internationally. According to Manela, many in Asia had faith that Wilson could and did intend to form a new international order, reducing the gap between the East and the West. In Egypt, Wilson's self-determination advocation led to hopes that Egypt may be freed from British control and would be afforded the opportunity to rule itself. Sarah Claire Dunstan's work also indicates that Wilson's rhetoric had an impact on marginalized groups within the United States, such as

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

. Members of disenfranchised groups like the African-American community were enthusiastic and some members, like peoples in various colonized nations, felt an opportunity had arisen to forward their own case for self-determination. All the hopes for self-determination that Wilson raised would soon be dashed when the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

was signed on 28 June 1919. Versailles did not destroy the colonial system, and much of the colonial world was left in disillusionment. Manela suggests this led to violent protest movements in various marginalized nations, including the

Egyptian Revolution of 1919 The Egyptian revolution of 1919 (, ''Thawra 1919'') was a nation-wide revolution in the Sultanate of Egypt against British occupation which lasted from November 1918 to July 1919. Occurring right after the end of World War I, the revolution ...

, the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...

in China,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

's passive resistance movement in India, and the

March 1st Movement The March First Movement was a series of protests against Korea under Japanese rule, Japanese colonial rule that was held throughout Korea and internationally by the Korean diaspora beginning on March 1, 1919. Protests were largely concentrated in ...

in Korea.

Impact

Historian David Kennedy argues that American foreign relations since 1914 have rested on Wilsonian

idealism Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysics, metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, Spirit (vital essence), spirit, or ...

, even if adjusted somewhat by the

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

represented by

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

and

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

. Kennedy argues that every president since Wilson has "embraced the core precepts of Wilsonianism. Nixon himself hung Wilson's portrait in the White House Cabinet Room. Wilson's ideas continue to dominate American foreign policy in the twenty-first century. In the aftermath of 9/11 they have, if anything, taken on even greater vitality." Wilson was a remarkably effective writer and thinker, and his diplomatic policies had a profound influence on shaping the world. Diplomatic historian

Walter Russell Mead Walter Russell Mead (born June 12, 1952) is an American academic. He is the Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft at the University of Florida's Hamilton Center, and taught American foreign policy at Yale University. He was als ...

said:

"Wilson's principles survived the eclipse of the Versailles system and they still guide European politics today: self-determination, democratic government, collective security, international law, and a league of nations. Wilson may not have gotten everything he wanted at Versailles, and his treaty was never ratified by the Senate, but his vision and his diplomacy, for better or worse, set the tone for the twentieth century. France, Germany, Italy, and Britain may have sneered at Wilson, but every one of these powers today conducts its European policy along Wilsonian lines. What was once dismissed as visionary is now accepted as fundamental. This was no mean achievement, and no European statesman of the twentieth century has had as lasting, as benign, or as widespread an influence."Walter Russell Mead, ''Special Providence,'' (2001)
/ref>

Principles

Wilsonian moment

Impact

See also

References

Further reading