an a tradition, but a tradition which has
tied the hands of American diplomats and caused the American public to
ignore what was actually going on in the world. The Spanish War and
the acquisition of the Philippines brought us into the full current of
world politics, and yet we refused to recognize the changes that
inevitably followed.

The emergence of Japan as a first-class power, conscious of achievement
and eager to enter on a great career, introduced a new and disturbing
element into world politics. Our diplomacy, which had hitherto been
comparatively simple, now became exceedingly complex. Formerly the
United States was the only great power outside the European balance.
The existence of a second detached power greatly complicated the
international situation and presented opportunities for new
combinations. We have already seen how Germany undertook to use the
opportunity presented by Russia's war with Japan to humiliate France
and that the United States took a prominent part in the Algeciras
Conference for the purpose of preventing the threatened overthrow of
the European balance of power. Thus, even before the World War began,
it had become evident to close observers of international affairs that
the European balance would soon be superseded by a world balance in
which the United States would be forced to take its place.

It took a world war, however, to dispel the popular illusion of
isolation and to arouse us to a temporary sense of our international
responsibilities. When the war began the President, following the
traditions of a hundred years, issued, as a matter of course, a
proclamation of neutrality, and he thought that the more scrupulously
it was observed the greater would be the opportunity for the United
States to act as impartial mediator in the final adjustment of peace
terms. As the fierceness of the conflict grew it became evident that
the role of neutral would not be an easy one to play and that the vital
interests of the United States would be involved to a far greater
extent than anyone had foreseen.

Neutrality in the modern sense is essentially an American doctrine and
the result of our policy of isolation. If we were to keep out of
European conflicts, it was necessary for us to pursue a course of rigid
impartiality in wars between European powers. In the Napoleonic wars
we insisted that neutrals had certain rights which belligerents were
bound to respect and we fought the War of 1