THE UNITED STATES AS A FACTOR IN WORLD 

 POLITICS. 



By L. S. ROWE, Ph.D., LL.D. 

 (Read April 24, 19 14.) 



There is probably no characteristic of American poHtical Hfe 

 that has made a deeper impression on foreign students of our insti- 

 tutions than the fact that while all matters of domestic policy are 

 subjected to the most searching analysis, questions of foreign policy 

 do not in normal times become the topic of public discussion. It is 

 not until our international relations have reached a critical stage that 

 real public interest is aroused. In most cases, however, before 

 public opinion has become crystallized, the national executive has 

 committed the country to a certain line of action. Thereafter the 

 country's policy is determined by the logic of events rather than by 

 the dictates of public opinion. 



In comparing the French, German and British magazines and 

 newspapers with those of the United States, one is impressed with the 

 fact that while the European journals are constantly discussing ques- 

 tions of foreign policy, little or no attention is given to this subject 

 in our American journals until some problem has reached so critical 

 a stage that it imperils the peace and safety of the country. The 

 causes of this contrast are to be found not in the more serious char- 

 acter of foreign journals, but in the fact that the American people 

 have been accustomed to confine their thinking on public affairs to 

 questions of domestic policy. 



Under our system of government this attitude involves a real 

 danger because it removes our foreign relations from the control of 

 public opinion, and makes them dependent upon the personal views 

 of the President of the Ignited States, subject to such influences as 

 may, for the time being, be dominant in Washington. When public 

 opinion does assert itself, such assertion usually comes as the result 

 of a wave of popular feeling, obeying an emotional impulse. The 



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