ABSTRACT
The decisive and swift defeat of Spain not only eliminated the last nonhemispheric power from the region but also resulted in the American empire of liberty, leaving the United States in control of Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean and—of even greater importance—of the Philippines in the Pacific. The origins of the New World thesis can be traced at least as far back as The Federalist, where Alexander Hamilton urged the United States "to become the Arbiter of Europe in America; and to be able to incline the balance of European competitions in this part of the world as our interest may dictate". Image is a critical component of foreign policy which, now as before, can be even more critical than hard power components such as weapons and money. American attempts to impact its national interests and strategies against either Germany or Japan. The result was Wilsonianism in theory but strategic withdrawal from world politics in practice.
