The Formative Years: The Role of Particularity in Geopolitics
Despite the romanticism through which the first generation of American leaders—the “Founding Fathers”—are often viewed, the thought and foreign policy of George Washington, the first president of the United States, demands particular attention, not least to dispel the sentimentalism and idealism that have come to characterize the current political and foreign policy establishment often called the Beltway consensus.
Long before the ascent of academic international relations and its supposed realist school in the 20th century, George Washington embodied an aristocratic view of diplomacy and statecraft premised on both a tragic realism about human nature and a sensible pragmatism that paid heed to the distinctive historical, geographical, and cultural contexts in policymaking. In the words of one major biographer, Washington was a “thoroughgoing realist. Though he embraced republican ideals, he believed that the behavior of nations was not driven by ideals but by interests.”1Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency George Washington, Knopf, 2004, p. 209.
This observation is borne out by Washington’s presidential conduct, and indeed much of his military career. It is therefore worthwhile to examine the origins of his “thoroughgoing” realism, as well as how Washington’s philosophy may be of continuing relevance for U.S. elites today, even if most among them remain oblivious to the true legacy of America’s founding president.
