Woodrow Wilson's Policy of Moral Diplomacy

Moral Diplomacy was a policy put in place during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. Moral Diplomacy was the idea that the United States would support only Latin American governments that were democratic or otherwise supported United States interests. The president hoped to influence and control other countries through economic pressure, which is why, by not supporting countries without a democratic government, he hoped to hurt them economically, and thus force them into submission. President Wilson described his foreign policy, Moral Diplomacy, in the following way: "The force of America is the force of moral principle."

There were many pros of Moral Diplomacy. Some of these include: increasing America's soft power, advancing American economic interests in other countries, and advancing human rights in Latin America. Increasing American soft power was a good thing because the more soft power America uses the better other countries view us because we are a nice hegemon. Advancing economic interests around the world is good for America because it helps our economy to grow and prosper. It is also good to give other people human rights because then they will have the same freedoms that we are accustomed to.

While there were many pros to Moral Diplomacy, there were also many cons. Some cons were: eventually having to use force, taking over other governments and forcing our views on them, and overprotecting business interests. Eventually having to use force undid the progress had previously we made when we peacefully negotiated. Forcing our views on other people was bad because all people have different views that shouldn't be infringed upon. When we overprotect business interests we start thinking only of ourselves and our needs which is also a bad thing.

Mexico did not like the foreign policy of Moral Diplomacy. We came into Mexico and refused to recognize the head of the new government because he had seized power illegally. We also sent troops to Mexico after the changes in government and we did not leave until they had a constitutional government. Mexico didn't like this because we used force to change them into something we liked. I addition to Mexico not liking this policy, other countries that we had to "correct" probably were not our biggest fans and could have, at any moment attacked us and "corrected" us.While some people believe Moral Diplomacy was a good thing, I personally do not think that this policy was a success. The United States repeatedly had to send troops into foreign nations to "correct" them. This was a waste of US troops and funds. The United States, instead, could have peacefully negotiated with the other countries and would probably have been successful without all of the bloodshed.