“The United States has conducted an unusually ideological foreign policy, an unusually economic foreign policy, and an unusually democratic foreign policy. These three features have been present from the eighteenth century to the present.” — Michael Mandelbaum

Is there an “American way” of foreign policy? Does that make the now almost 250 year-old republic unique? Michael Mandelbaum, author of The American Way of Foreign Policy: Ideology, Economics, Democracy, says yes and no. America is exceptional. But that exceptionalism is unexceptional.

Mandelbaum says that American foreign policy over the last 250 years has been unusually ideological, economic, and democratic. Foreign policy realists say great powers all behave the same way. Mandelbaum, as an idealist, says: not America. Uniquely in world history, he says, America has pursued its principles overseas without prioritising its political, economic, or military self-interest.

And yet The American Way of Foreign Policy isn’t triumphalist. Mandelbaum opposed NATO expansion in the 1990s. He was in the anti-Vietnam marches as a Harvard student in the Sixties. Nor is he partial to demonstrations of overt nationalism. His July 4 plans, for example, are to watch baseball. As a lucky man in a fortunate Republic, what better way to celebrate 250 years of independence than to enjoy its national pastime?

Five Takeaways

• Three Distinctive Features. Ideological: America has tried to spread its political ideas more than any other great power. Economic: it has used economic instruments to achieve political goals, not the reverse. Democratic: American public opinion has always had more influence over foreign policy than in other countries.

• Idealist and Realist: Both Apply. Realism fits American foreign policy up to a point — America has fought twelve significant wars. But it has also conducted idealist policies that cannot be explained by realism. The distinctive feature: America goes beyond realism in ways other great powers have not.

• NATO Expansion: Mandelbaum’s One Big Regret. Opposed alongside George Kennan in the 1990s, fearing it would alienate Russia. Doesn’t explicitly blame NATO expansion for Ukraine. But the fear was reasonable and deserved more serious consideration.

• Vietnam: Was the Antiwar Movement Counterproductive? Mandelbaum was in the marches. His revised view: the movement probably had no positive effect and may have been perverse. Nixon used it as a foil. The war ended because Americans decided it cost too much in lives.

• Israel and Gaza. America supports Israel for two reasons: strategic advantage and shared values. When interests diverge, America goes its own way — the Iran deal, the 1980s arms sales. America also cannot push Israel around in Gaza: these are matters of national survival.

About the Guest

Michael Mandelbaum is the Christian A. Herter Professor Emeritus of American Foreign Policy at Johns Hopkins SAIS and the author of The American Way of Foreign Policy (Oxford University Press, April 2026) and thirteen other books.

References

The American Way of Foreign Policy by Michael Mandelbaum (Oxford University Press, April 2026): global.oup.com/academic/product/the-american-way-of-foreign-policy-9780197840931
The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy by Michael Mandelbaum

About Keen On America

Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen.

Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow

Chapters:

00:00:31 America’s 250th and the World Cup
00:02:59 Is there an American way of foreign policy?
00:03:22 The three features: ideological, economic, democratic
00:05:49 Consistent theme or too many pivots?
00:06:35 The four ages
00:08:26 Idealist vs realist
00:35:00 NATO expansion: the big regret
00:40:00 Iran: the war of February 2026
00:46:05 Israel, Gaza, and the American way
00:50:05 A life in American foreign policy
00:52:10 Vietnam: the antiwar movement
00:53:49 July 4: watching baseball