In this article, Kevin Mattson, a history professor at Ohio University, looks to Reinhold Niebuhr as a voice that could unite and define the political left in our time. To do so, Mattson considers the parallels between our modern day and the early stages of the Cold War, as well as Niebuhr's rethinking of liberalism during the 1940's and 50's. In Nieburh's time, conservatives were calling for containment, and " 'preemptive' wars based upon an absolutist faith in American power," while Niebuhr articulated a more liberal view of the role America should play in international affairs. Mattson says that Niebuhr formulated this view based on "military and diplomatic action" as well as a "correcting social inequities at home." It is this public philosophy of Niebuhr's that Mattson believes could be applied today. The essay goes on to explain how Niebuhr's religion worked with his political beliefs and not against them, and how this alternative view of both religion and politics lent itself to a more realist and moderate theological approach to the Cold War--after WWII, Niebuhr had an understandably "chastened view of world state behavior."
Mattson's essay is a thoughtful, well-written overview of Niebuhr's work and personal philosophies, made more intriguing by its modern comparisons.
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This article by Ohio University history professor Kevin Mattson aptly describes the principles underlying Neibuhr's foreign policy recommendations during the mid 20th century and ultimately applies such principles to current US foreign policy. Niebuhr advocated formulating a foreign policy based on prudence and realism, rather than subjecting the world to American idealism. To his critics, Niebuhr's idea of realism translated into an overly militaristic and morally vacuous policy of containment. However, Niebuhr often injected his Christian beliefs into his foreign policy recommendations, insisting that tbe US government inject a sense of humility into its policy formulation. Furthermore, Niebuhr warned his conservative critics of American hubris, citing that “Our ‘way
ReplyDeleteof life’ does not have the persuasive power which we attribute to it.” Such principles can easily and justly be applied to today's foreign policy, in a time when national pride and idealism have dragged the US into costly conflicts abroad.