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Concept
Wilsonianism
Summary
Wilsonianism, or Wilsonian idealism, is a certain type of foreign policy advice. The term comes from the ideas and proposals of President Woodrow Wilson. He issued his famous Fourteen Points in January 1918 as a basis for ending World War I and promoting world peace. He was a leading advocate of the League of Nations to enable the international community to avoid wars and end hostile aggression. Wilsonianism is a form of liberal internationalism.
Common principles that are often associated with Wilsonianism include:
Advocacy of the spread of democracy. Anne-Marie Slaughter writes that Wilson expected and hoped "that democracy would result from self-determination, but he never sought to spread democracy directly." Slaughter writes that Wilson's League of Nations was similarly intended to foster liberty 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 League of Nations and the United Nations.
Emphasis on self-determination of peoples.
Advocacy of the spread of capitalism.
Support for collective security, and at least partial opposition to American isolationism.
Support for open diplomacy and opposition to secret treaties.
Support for freedom of navigation and freedom of the seas.
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' based on adherence to self-determination; for others, Wilsonianism is the exemplar of humanitarian intervention around the world,' making U.S. foreign policy a paragon of carefully defined and restricted use of force.
Official source
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