Abstract

This review essay discusses the changing historiographical and political fortunes of Woodrow Wilson's international philosophy and vision. In the post World War II period, «Wilsonianism», as it came to be known, was often criticized and denounced by Cold War realists and New Left revisionists alike. Only after the end of the Cold War there was a rediscovery and sometimes celebration of the audacity and far-sightedness of Wilson's ideas. This historiographical revival has however been marked by a strong presentism and the propensity to apply the alleged Wilsonian lessons to today's problems and issues.