ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how a Wilsonian framework, that is a framework based on the concepts of democracy promotion and collective security, has been an active and important part of the foreign policy decisions of the United States. It argues against the conception that existing explanations provide a strong enough explanation in isolation for them to be accepted without an understanding of the Wilsonian framework. The chapter presents the dominant discussion has been one that emphasizes strategic and economic motivations alone and that any pronouncements by the United States to the contrary were a nothing more than a public relations exercise. It addresses the concept that Wilsonian factors are often used to justify the actions of the United States rather than being an influencing factor. The chapter also shows that these factors are separate from the power that the United States possesses in the international system.
