January 29 |
Progressivism
and Foreign Policy |
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A satire of Theodore Roosevelt's decision to
"take" the Panama Canal from Colombia. Roosevelt's
aggressiveness in this instance, however, was uncharacteristic of
his more subtle diplomacy when dealing with the activities of the
major world powers. |
American historians have debated the meaning of
"progressivism" to such an extent that some whether the
term has any historical utility at all. In foreign affairs,
however, progressivism did tend to produce a more active US
international role, whether intellectually (as we see in the
Rodgers reading), in terms of championing new ways to avoid war
(as in the Root document), or in bringing to the fore issues of
imperialism (as in the Roosevelt, Rayner, and Lodge documents).
And gradually, a new consensus emerged, one that sought to
apply the lessons of progressivism to inter-American relations as
part of a broader search for alternatives to intervention.
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READING:
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