Wilsonian

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Wilsonianism 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" includes:

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

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.

[edit] Criticism

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. Modern critics, such as paleoconservatives, argue the principles are overly idealistic and can lead to unnecessary military interventions, putting lives at risk over abstract concepts rather than direct threats.

[edit] Alternative uses

The legacy of President Wilson in domestic interventionism is sometimes also referred to as Wilsonianism. However, it is not so common.

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".