ABSTRACT
One could easily be tempted to believe that America today is more complicated, that the country speaks less with one voice, than in the past; that contemporary Americans have lost the clear sense of purpose that guided earlier generations. However, contradiction and paradox have never been absent from the American character, as Arthur Schlesinger Jr has said. There always was a ‘schism in the American soul between a commitment to experiment and a susceptibility to dogma’, between realism and the belief in a special mission. 1 On the one hand, the old Puritan vision of America as a blessed refuge from the evils of the world (particularly those in Europe) and as a beacon of justice and freedom has become one of the most generally acknowledged features of the American self-image. On the other hand, the Founding Fathers also reminded their fellow countrymen of the risky nature of statecraft and the impossibility of forcing international realities into the mould of domestic ideals. The future was uncertain, and their confidence in the future was based on the supposed geographic and demographic advantages of America, rather than on divine intercession. 2
