Wilsonian
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Wilsonism or Wilsonian are words used to describe a certain type of ideological perspectives on foreign policy. The term comes from the ideology of American President Woodrow Wilson, and his famous Fourteen Points that he believed would help create world peace if implemented.
Common principles that are often described as "Wilsonian" include:
- Advocacy of self-determination by ethnic groups
- Advocacy of the spread of democracy
- Anti-isolationism, in favor of intervention to help create peace and / or spread freedom
Overall, Wilsonian principles are often characterized as being motivated by benevolence and ideology, rather than strict self-interest and fear.
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once described the making of US foreign policy as an ongoing conflict between Wilsonians and Jacksonites; the latter being isolationist followers of the ideology of former President Andrew Jackson.
Critics of the concept of "Wilsonian Idealism" say that Wilson only wanted ethnic self-determination and democracy in European countries which were under the control of rivals of America. Elsewhere such principles were ignored. Today other critics of Wilsonism, such as paleoconservatives argue the principles are overly idealistic, and can lead to unnecessary military interventions, putting lives at risk for abstract concepts rather than direct threats.
In the UK, the term "Wilsonian" (although rarely if ever "Wilsonism") is sometimes used to refer to the ideas associated with former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson, usually relating to his time in office from 1964-70 rather than his troubled return from 1974-76. It usually suggests the idea of "classless" technocratic social democracy which inspired a lot of excitement in Britain around the time of his 1966 landslide, and is often related to his famous comment about "the white heat of technological revolution".