You may be thinking of World War I, after which severe economic problems at home and political instability abroad, together with the harrowing experience of the war itself, made the US feel vulnerable and unwilling to get involved in what were perceived as ';other people's conflicts';.
After World War II the US was actively involved in many overseas conflicts, as proxies against the USSR during the Cold War.Why did usa adopt the policy of isolation in the time after ww2?
Introduction
One of the most widely discussed problems throughout the history of US foreign policy is the relation between isolationism and internationalism. During the existence of the US, both approaches had been executed. The complex problem of surveying the relation and development of isolationism and interventionism is however rather too either rather or too complicated. Therefore this essay will focus on the particular problem of the change in US foreign policy following the aftermath of WW2.
The relevant time period would be the last days of WW2 until the year 1947, the year the Truman doctrine was announced and the Marshall plan was launched.
The question this paper analyses is “What were the reasons that lead the US to discard their former policy of isolationism and adopt the internationalist policy?” one paragraph should consist of several sentences, not just one or two.
Analysis
To explain possible motives behind the decisions, it is necessary to explain historical background.
The well-known fact is that during the inter-war period the US executed? isolationist policy.
It is vital to define the policy of isolationism in general, and in the context of US foreign policy. What is isolationism? According to J. M. McCormick isolationism is a “policy where a nation’s interests are best served if the nation secludes itself from other nations and avoids forming alliances with them.” [MS Encarta 2004]
When we take into consideration the geographical situation of the US, it not a surprising fact that during its early existence it practiced the isolationist approach to the rest of the world. (This of course excludes the cases concerning the North American continent, for example the purchases of Louisiana from Napoleon in the early 19th and Alaska from the Russian Tsar in the late 19th century)
If we test the second part of J.M. McCormick’s definition of isolationism with historical evidence, we find it fits the case of the United States perfectly.
Obviously, throughout the 19th century the United States resisted entering into international conflicts. Therefore the need to form alliances had never arisen. (The adoption of isolationism had been formally made by the US president James Monroe in the famous Monroe doctrine in the early 18th century).
Another reason mentioned by a number of scholars is the dedication of the United States to a higher moral principle. J.M. McCormick argues that protecting domestic interests alone was not a reason good enough for the US to become involved in a conflict. Some higher moral principle had to be at stake. The United States fought the War of 1812 against the British in Canada and at home to stop Britain from blockading international waters. In 1898 the United States fought the Spanish-American War to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule. This could be labeled as an act of liberation of the people of Cuba under the higher moral principle. One should discern between the real reasons and proclaimed ones. Actually, there were other motives of intervening into the war in Cuba (as you write later)– just the US government claimed that it was liberation On the other hand it could be marked as an intervention aiding US trade interests. Even the entry of the United States into World War I, is sometimes explained as a response to Germany’s violation of international law in 1917 by resuming its campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. The real reasons for the US were far from that simple. One of the relevant factors could have been the bankers’ lobby in the US why?. reference
The US became a great power as a result of WW1. And it is a fact that its economic power has risen (because of reasons such as the war supplies for Europe, bank loans to European countries, and government orders).
The idea of America’s moral obligation to defend the liberty of nations and its dedication to justice is frequently used by many authors.
After World War I, the United States reverted back to isolationism.
One of the reasons was that in the late 1930’s large elements in the population turned their backs psychologically on most of the rest of humanity what do you mean by this?. Interwar isolation had been produced by a strange combination of insularity and idealism. Separated from Asia and Europe by great oceans and intent upon development of a continent, Americans had little reason to devote their energies to foreign affaires, or so it seemed. Their sense of their own uniqueness and virtue, products of their democratic system and the rich natural resources of their land, made them look on other people as either (in the case of Europeans) evil and corrupt or (in the case of most other) benighted. (Columbia History of the World or to put it as a footnote)
As a result of this policy, the United States did not join the League of Nations when it was founded in 1920 or during the 26 years of its existence (although the founding father of the League of Nations was th
The USA didn't adopt a policy of isolationism after WWII. You mean WWI, you will find lots of info on that. No wikipedia!
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