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[lederuvdapac]

President George Washington's Farewell Address (1796):

"The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities."

Yes, the policy of isolationism which lasted right up until after World War II. In our current state of world affairs, Americans are in some places loathed and shown major disfavor. France, Germany... two nations in which we rebuilt after WWII and protected from Soviet invasion turned there back on us in the war in Iraq. The people of South Korea protest American and S.Korean military action in Iraq even when the United States is all that protects them from a N.Korean invasion.

The policy of isolationism was successful for many years until we became a world superpower with the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, we were the world's "Knight in Shining Armor" protecting the free world from the evil Communists and we were respected. But with the fall of the Soviet Union and the US emerging as the only superpower we have been degraded by the world even been called "imperialists" by our "closest" allies.

BUT, what if the United States wasn't there for everyone. What if we decided that we will no longer care for the problems of the world and only care about ourselves. Stop sending foreign aid, withdraw all foreign troops, withdraw from the UN and NAFTA, and just worry about our own damn problems. What would the world think then? World Hunger, AIDS, Terrorism, Genocide, Dictators, for now on we will only deal with what affects us personally. The rest of the world can get by on its own. They do not like us? FINE!, they wont ever hear from us again. We can put all those troops on the border to help immigration and our War on Drugs, we can help our own economy by stop sending foreign aid, and we can fight the war on terror with a more secure America and less of a motive for radicals.

Questions for Debate:

1) After our operations in Iraq, would you support a policy of Isolationism?
2) If so, to what extent?
3) What are the benefits/problems with adopting this policy?
4) In your opinion, would the world be a better place?

This post has been edited by lederuvdapac: Jun 26 2004, 02:08 AM