What is Isolationism?
Isolationism is the belief that a country should stay out of other nations' quarrels. Isolationists want to avoid permanent alliances, foreign wars and heavy involvement in international bodies. They argue that the money, soldiers and attention spent abroad would be better used at home. The word is often used as an insult by opponents, and many people who hold these views prefer to be called non-interventionists or restrainers. Isolationism is about foreign policy, not about economics or culture, so its supporters hold very different views at home. Some want high tariffs, others want free trade. Some are conservatives, and others are pacifists or left-wing critics of war.
Core beliefs
- A country should avoid binding alliances and entangling commitments abroad.
- Foreign wars cost lives and money and rarely serve the national interest.
- Government should focus on the safety and welfare of its own people.
- Foreign involvement often grows the power of the state at home.
- Neutrality and strong defense of one's own borders are enough for security.
- Other nations should be left to settle their own affairs.
History
The classic American example begins with George Washington's Farewell Address in 1796, which urged the young republic to avoid permanent alliances. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 told European powers to keep out of the Americas, while the United States promised not to meddle in Europe. After the First World War, the Senate refused to join the League of Nations in 1919 and 1920. In the 1930s the Nye Committee, led by Senator Gerald Nye, argued that arms makers and bankers had pushed the country into the last war. Congress then passed Neutrality Acts to keep it out of the next. The America First Committee campaigned against entering the Second World War until the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Isolation has also been practiced elsewhere. Japan limited contact with foreigners from the 1630s until 1853, though trade continued through a few ports.
Variants
Strict isolationism would cut most political, military and economic ties. A milder form, sometimes called non-interventionism, still allows trade, travel and diplomacy but rejects alliances and wars of choice. Hemispheric isolationism, popular in the United States in the early twentieth century, sought a free hand in the Americas while staying out of Europe and Asia. Neutrality, as in Switzerland, is related but different, because it is a legal status maintained within active trade and diplomacy.
Criticisms
Critics argue that isolation failed to stop the rise of aggressive powers in the 1930s and left the democracies weaker. They also say that in a world of trade, disease, terror and climate change, no country can truly stay apart. Some America First leaders were accused of sympathy for the fascist powers or of antisemitism, and historians still debate how widespread this was. Supporters answer that opposing war is not the same as backing the enemy, and that many isolationists were motivated by a sincere fear of repeating the losses of the First World War.
In practice
The Second World War and the Cold War moved the United States toward alliances such as NATO, and isolationism lost its mainstream standing. Its themes still return in debates over foreign aid, troop deployments and trade deals. On the 12 axes it scores toward Strength on Foreign policy, because it prizes national independence and skepticism of international bodies, and toward Protected on Trade and National identity on Culture.