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Theodore Roosevelt: Incidents After the Spanish-American War, the United States had worldwide colonial interests for the first time. The management of these new territories was at the forefront of Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy. On December 3, 1901, Roosevelt gave his first message to Congress in which he spoke of "the righteousness of policy in the recently acquired possessions of Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Philippines; and the ambitious goal of building a canal across the isthmus connecting North and South America." (Hunt XIII). The Roosevelt Corollary Even though the new possessions were a major focus for Roosevelt, he still had no trouble exerting America's national interests in Asia, Central and South America, and even in Europe. His most notable foreign policy interventions came from South and Central America. "In what he called a 'corollary' to the Monroe Doctrine, he proclaimed on December 6th, 1904 a general right of intervention 'by some civilized nation' which in the Western Hemisphere, the United States alone had a right to exercise." (Kissinger 41). To solve the 'wrongdoings' in the Western Hemisphere Roosevelt backed up his words with military might turning the U. S. into a 'police power.' (39). In 1902 he threatened military presence to force Haiti to clear up its debts with European banks, in 1903 the United States suspiciously helped Panama start an insurrection and helped them win their independence from Columbia leading to the construction of the Panama Canal, in 1905 the United States established a protectorate over the Dominican Republic to take care of their financial troubles, and in 1906 the United States troops occupied Cuba to restore order. (39). "For Roosevelt, muscular diplomacy in the Western Hemisphere was part of America's new global role. The two oceans were no longer wide enough to insulate America from the rest of the world." (39). Global negotiations With the exception of a few negotiations with Britain, Roosevelt never really involved himself in European matters. "Roosevelt at first saw no need to engage America in the specifics of the European balance of power because he considered it more or less self-regulating, but he left little doubt that, if such a judgment were to prove wrong, he would urge America to engage itself to reestablish the equilibrium." (41). Roosevelt did not believe in isolation, nor did he believe that Europe can go on unchecked. But during the time the European balance of power system showed no real signs of the upcoming doom of World War I. With regards to Asia, Roosevelt was instrumental in solving the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. At the Portsmouth Conference the President mediated an end to the war showing his true personality. "The Candid President disliked the pomp and circumstance of traditional diplomacy and on occasion disrupted protocol with a memorable incident: he once broke up a luncheon by demonstrating jujitsu holds on the Swiss minister." (Paterson 224). His work at the conference later earned him the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. (Hunt XIV). |
Incidents
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