Иностранный язык. Учебное пособие. Мартемьянова Н.В - 8 стр.

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TEXT II
The Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine grew out of this anti-European position. Interested in
maintaining good relations with South America, the British Minister, George
Canning, proposed in 1823 that the United States join with England in making a
declaration against any further attempts by the continental powers to colonize the
New World. At Adams' insistence Monroe refused to join the British plan. Instead he
issued an independent American statement, since known as the Monroe Doctrine,
although Adams claimed to be its primary author. The Monroe Doctrine declared:
1 That the United States did not wish to take part in the politics or wars of Europe.
2 That the United States would regard as manifestations of an unfriendly disposition
to itself the effort of any European power to interfere with the political system of the
American continents, or to acquire any new territory on these continents.
The Monroe Doctrine . . . was something more and something less than tradition has
made it seem. Enforcement of the doctrine depended ... on the British fleet, and in
this sense many have considered it a hollow gesture although it was a true
commitment. Later generations have seen it as a weapon or facade behind which the
United States was able to interfere unduly in the internal affairs of its neighbors, and
it has also on occasion served this purpose. Still others regard it as one more
inflexible American principle that by its unyielding quality has limited American
maneuverability in Latin American affairs, and this is certainly correct. But
understood in the context of its own day, the Monroe Doctrine would appear to have
several other legitimate purposes. First, it was a refusal to allow Latin America to
become exclusively a British protectorate. Second, it reinforced American trading
interests in the hemisphere. Third, it announced America's emergence as a power
among nations that had to be reckoned with. Fourth, it was a gesture of genuine
goodwill and concern for the new Latin republics. Fifth, it was a continual
renunciation of European political alliances and a strategic refusal to play the
balance-of-power game on Britain's terms. And finally, it was a rallying cry, a
nationalistic symbol for Americans at home, that drew the nation together in terms of
its ultimate ideals of republican democracy for all. Only the fact of slavery beclouded
the lofty pretensions of such a democratic mission.
By the time Adams became president, the United States had acquired a continental
empire of its own that looked both inward and outward, south toward the Caribbean,
and west toward China and the Pacific. It had, moreover, taken an important place in
the world family of nations and, following Jefferson's prophecy, it had spawned
sister republics based on the American model as far as Cape Horn. ' The French had
been ousted from North America, and the British, Spanish, and Russians severely
circumscribed. This was not the work of a nation that sought or needed a comfortable
security. It was the missionary impulse of individuals who had fought their way to
freedom and independence, and therefore appreciated their virtues, an impulse
making itself felt for the first time around the world.