The United States did not enter World War I until April 1917. But politicians and intellectuals have been discussing the implications of this conflict for the United States since 1914. For the first time, a study is devoted to these thematic controversies. Older traditions of foreign policy thinking and criticism of Europe are shown as well as new thought patterns and global political designs. It shows that the beginning of the First World War represented a qualitative leap in the perception and acceptance of the partly manifest, partly potential world power status.