US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her supporters have largely misinterpreted the expression "American exceptionalism" depriving it of its unique sense meant by America's Founding Fathers, according to former US diplomat and foreign policy adviser Jim Jatras and Edward Lozansky, president of the American University in Moscow.
In the eyes of Hillary Clinton "American exceptionalism" de facto means "post-Cold War US global behavior, by which policymakers in Washington assert both an exclusive 'leadership' privilege and unsupportable obligation to undertake open-ended international missions in the name of the 'Free World' and the 'international community'," the scholars write in their article for Chronicles Magazine.
However, although the US political establishment has wasted trillions of America's tax dollars on overseas campaigns, it didn't make the world safer, quite the opposite, the scholars underscore.
"Closely related is [Clinton's] concept of America's 'indispensability'," Jatras and Lozansky continue, citing Clinton's speech at the American Legion's national convention in Cincinnati.
"In fact, we are the indispensable nation. People all over the world look to us and follow our lead… Because, when America fails to lead, we leave a vacuum that either causes chaos or other countries or networks rush in to fill the void. So no matter how hard it gets, no matter how great the challenge, America must lead," Hillary Clinton claimed.
But the other side of the coin is that other countries and peoples are dispensable-or disposable — in the eyes of Clinton and like-minded politicians, the scholars warn, adding that "in the process, Americans' freedoms have become disposable too."
Clinton "understands 'American exceptionalism' in a particularly warped way that justifies interfering all over the globe," Larison wrote, commenting on Clinton's speech in Cincinnati.
What is worse, Larison continued, Clinton asserts that "defending American exceptionalism should always be above politics."
"That's not healthy for the quality of our foreign policy debates or our foreign policy as a whole," the commentator stressed.
In his latest opinion piece Larison calls attention to Hillary Clinton's renewed foreign policy agenda, voiced recently by herself and her top advisers.
"Now that the campaign is almost over and Clinton's victory seems likely, we are suddenly hearing about her plans for a much more aggressive international posture," he highlights.
This Clinton-style "exceptionalism" definitely spells trouble for global peace, according to Jatras and Lozansky.
"For genuine patriots, the true, uniquely American exceptionalism of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution is our precious inheritance," they note.
They quoted former Secretary of State John Quincy Adams' speech on US foreign policy delivered on July 4, 1821: "Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will [America's] heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."
According to Jatras and Lozansky, the foreign policy approach adopted by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush means more wars, more enemies and "eventual catastrophe" to the United States.
"It's a mistake America cannot afford to make," they concluded.
