Isolationism In The United States

As a newly formed country the United States largely adopted a policy of isolationism, meaning that the government believed it was better to keep itself out of the political affairs of other countries. The United States was successful in its isolationism because of its geographical separation from Europe and most other major countries (proquest staff). After the conclusion of the American Civil War, this attitude remained the same. The country had to focus its efforts into the reconstruction and rebuilding of the nation after the years of strain and warfare that split the country in two. However, as the nineteenth century drew to a close and as both agriculture and industry exploded, the attitudes of American citizens began to change. The American …show more content…
While in the 1890’s citizens of the United States would have had little to no qualms about interfering in the country’s affairs, the American public today is more reluctant to jump right in. For example, when “U.S. President Barack Obama tried to drum up momentum for airstrikes in Syria to punish and deter the use of chemical weapons, he failed to gain much of a following” …show more content…
Though this is a favorable situation, President Barack Obama has been receiving criticism for agreeing to the deal and working with the Russian government. Russia is largely viewed in a negative way by the American public for reasons such as its government granting asylum to Edward Snowden, an exiled ex-CIA employee who exposed classified information about the United States’ surveillance systems, and for recently establishing anti-gay laws (Gao). James Paul, the former executive director of Global Policy Forum (GPF) said "Today, the U.S. has less leverage, less respect and less flexibility than it once had…But we must see the Syria outcome not as a U.S. failure, but rather as a kind of success, in that the Obama administration recognized its limits and was ready to change course rather than head into a very risky option of war"