Tony Smith
 International & Comparative Politics
Cornelia M. Jackson Professor of Political Science
Ph.D., Harvard University, 1971
Twentieth Century Fund Book
America's Mission: The United States adn the Worldwide
Struggle for Democracy in the Twentieth Century.
Synopsis:
The strength and prestige of democracy worldwide at the end of the
twentieth century are due in good measure to the impact of America
on international affairs, argues Tony Smith. Here for the first time
is a book that documents the extraordinary history of American
foreign policy with respect to the promotion of democracy worldwide,
an effort whose greatest triumph came in the occupations of Japan
and Germany but whose setbacks include interventions in Latin
America and Vietnam.
As Americans ponder the challenges of world affairs at the end of
the Cold War, Smith suggests that they think back to other times
when Washington's decisions were critical: not only to the end of
the World Wars in 1918 and 1945, but to the end of the
Spanish-American War in 1898 and the Civil War in 1865 as well. They
will find that in the aftermath of victory, Washington determined to
win the peace by promoting a concept of national security calling
ultimately for democratic government in Europe, Latin America, and
the Far East. So the Congress set out to "reconstruct" the south in
1867; America aimed to democratize the Philippines in 1898; Wilson
sought to "make the world safe for democracy," first in Latin
America and then, after 1918, in Central and Eastern Europe; FDR and
Truman dictated the democratization of Japan and Germany and called
for democracy in Eastern Europe after 1945; Kennedy promoted the
Alliance for Progress in Latin America; Carter launched his human
rights campaign; Reagan (the most Wilsonian of Wilson's successors)
heralded an international "democratic revolution"; Bush called for a
"new world order"; and Clinton declared that "our overriding purpose
must be to expand and strengthen the world's community of
market-based democracies."
Through a study of selected countries--most notably Germany, Japan,
the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Iran, and Nicaragua (but
also Mexico, Chili, Guatemala, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Greece, South
Africa, and Russia)-Smith reviews the American record both in local
terms and with respect to its impact on world politics. Smith's
story is at once that of the twentieth century, and that of the
central thrust of American foreign policy in the twentieth century,
and that of the central international political struggle of the
period among nationalists wedded to rival ideologies of facism,
communism, and democracy, each striving to dominate world affairs.
Now that this struggle appears to be over, the question is whether
democracy can consolidate its position as the sole legitimate form
of government worldwide, so creating a common form of government to
express the nationalist sentiments that continue to be the hallmark
of this century.
Tony Smith is Cornelia M. Jackson Professor of Political
Science at Tufts University and Senior Research Associate of the
Center for European Studies at Harvard University.
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