American Exceptionalism

Regarding Damien's Random Thoughts from Monday, your dissection of Carter as post-American draws the stark distinction between the gloom and malaise of that administration, and the "shining city on a hill" that Reagan envisioned (a reason, probably, that our country is profoundly better off today due to the Reagan presidency), but this reminds me of what might be a parallel distinction between Carter's acquiesence and the decidedly proactive approach Reagan took to foreign policy. While I may be seeing this through a foggy historical lens, I get the impression Reagan was more involved in intervening in the affairs of other countries, or was at least more resolute about standing up for American interests and values in the face of foreign bullies. Whether this approach was a reflection of his view of America as the lone and abiding superpower, or a cause of it, who knows? But I wonder to what extent American hegemony is linked to our tangles in a foreign theater, or what some would call "the neoconservative agenda" of asserting American interests and values globally, such as in Iraq today. Granted, Reagan was faced with a time bomb in the spread of Communisim, Soviet aggression, possible nuclear war, etc. But I wonder about today, absent a serious contender for the role of superpower, are our squabbles in the neighbor's backyard irreversibly tied to American exceptionalism?