wilsonian idealism, n.Definitions

Wilsonian idealism (n.) holds, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in its real-world version, that America stands for something the world needs and will take, whether it likes it or not.

Wilsonian idealism (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠its modern form holds that America is history's vanguard and so must dominate forever — making its freedom to use force a gift to mankind.

Wilsonian idealism (n.) holds ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠that government belongs in the hands of "the good, though but a few" — the very words of seventeenth-century English gentry frightened of the multitude.

Wilsonian idealism (n.) rests ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠on one unspoken premise: we are good, even noble, so our interventions are righteous in intent if sometimes clumsy in execution.