Isolationism
Isolationism is a term used to refer to a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entanglement in military alliances and mutual defense pacts. In its purest form, isolationism opposes all commitments to foreign countries including treaties and trade agreements.[1] This distinguishes isolationism from non-interventionism, which also advocates military neutrality but does not necessarily oppose international commitments and treaties in general.
This contrasts with philosophies such as colonialism, expansionism, and liberal internationalism.
Introduction
Isolationism has been defined as:
A policy or doctrine of trying to isolate one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, and generally attempting to make one's economy entirely self-reliant; seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement, both diplomatically and economically, while remaining in a state of peace by avoiding foreign entanglements and responsibilities.[2]
By country
Albania
Bhutan
Before 1999,
Cambodia
From 1431 to 1863, the
China
After Zheng He's voyages in the 15th century, the foreign policy of the Ming dynasty in China became increasingly isolationist. The Hongwu Emperor was not the first to propose the policy to ban all maritime shipping in 1390.[7] The Qing dynasty that came after the Ming dynasty often continued the Ming dynasty's isolationist policies. Wokou, which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China, Japan, and Korea, and were one of the key primary concerns, although the maritime ban was not without some control.
In the winter of 1757, the Qianlong Emperor declared that—effective the next year—Guangzhou was to be the only Chinese port permitted to foreign traders, beginning the Canton System.[8]
Since the division of the territory following the
Japan
From 1641 to 1853, the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan enforced a policy called kaikin. The policy prohibited foreign contact with most outside countries. The commonly held idea that Japan was entirely closed, however, is misleading. In fact, Japan maintained limited-scale trade and diplomatic relations with China, Korea, and the Ryukyu Islands, as well as the Dutch Republic as the only Western trading partner of Japan for much of the period.[11][12]
The culture of Japan developed with limited influence from the outside world and had one of the longest stretches of peace in history. During this period, Japan developed thriving cities, castle towns, increasing commodification of agriculture and domestic trade,[13] wage labor, increasing literacy and concomitant print culture,[14] laying the groundwork for modernization even as the shogunate itself grew weak.[15]
Korea
In 1863,
Following the
Paraguay
In 1814, three years after it gained its independence on May 14, 1811, Paraguay was taken over by the dictator José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia. During his rule which lasted from 1814 until his death in 1840, he closed Paraguay's borders and prohibited trade or any relationship between Paraguay and the outside world. The Spanish settlers who had arrived in Paraguay just before it gained its independence were required to marry old colonists or the native Guaraní in order to create a single Paraguayan people.
Francia had a particular dislike of foreigners, and any foreigners who attempted to enter the country were not allowed to leave for an indefinite period of time. An independent character, he hated European influences and the Catholic Church and in order to try to keep foreigners at bay, he turned church courtyards into artillery parks and turned confession boxes into border sentry posts.[16]
United States
The cultural roots of isolationism, such as German[17] and Irish ethnicity,[18] have interested scholars.[19] Some scholars, such as Robert J. Art, believe that the United States had an isolationist history, but most other scholars dispute that claim by describing the United States as following a strategy of unilateralism or non-interventionism rather than a strategy of isolationism.[20][21] Robert Art makes his argument in A Grand Strategy for America (2003).[20] Books that have made the argument that the United States followed unilaterism instead of isolationism include Walter A. McDougall's Promised Land, Crusader State (1997), John Lewis Gaddis's Surprise, Security, and the American Experience (2004), and Bradley F. Podliska's Acting Alone (2010).[22] Both sides claim policy prescriptions from George Washington's Farewell Address as evidence for their argument.[20][21] Bear F. Braumoeller argues that even the best case for isolationism, the United States in the interwar period, has been widely misunderstood and that Americans proved willing to fight as soon as they believed a genuine threat existed.[23] Warren F. Kuehl and Gary B. Ostrower argue:
Events during and after the Revolution related to the treaty of alliance with France, as well as difficulties arising over the neutrality policy pursued during the French revolutionary wars and the Napoleonic wars, encouraged another perspective. A desire for separateness and unilateral freedom of action merged with national pride and a sense of continental safety to foster the policy of isolation. Although the United States maintained diplomatic relations and economic contacts abroad, it sought to restrict these as narrowly as possible in order to retain its independence. The Department of State continually rejected proposals for joint cooperation, a policy made explicit in the Monroe Doctrine's emphasis on unilateral action. Not until 1863 did an American delegate attend an international conference.[24]
Criticism
Isolationism has been criticized for the lack of aiding nations with major troubles. One notable example is that of American isolationism, which
Some modern American conservative commentators assert that labeling others as isolationist is used against individuals in a pejorative manner.[26][27]
See also
- Autarky
- Cordon Sanitaire
- Economic nationalism
- Iron Curtain
- Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation
- International isolation
- Non-interventionism
- Sakoku, Japan's policy before 1868
- Swiss neutrality
- Isolation (disambiguation)
- Splendid isolation
- United States non-interventionism
- Unilateralism in the United States
- Why Die for Danzig?
Works cited
- ^ Thomas S. Vontz, "Isolationism." World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia (2013).
- ^ "Neutrality, Political," (2008). International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences; retrieved 2011-09-18
- ^ "South Asia :: Bhutan". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ^ O'Brien, Matt (2010-08-29). "Reporter's Notebook from Bhutan: Crashing the Lost Horizon". Inside Bay Area. Contra Costa Times. Archived from the original on Mar 23, 2012. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
- from the original on 2023-02-18. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
- ^ Chaudhury, Dipanjan Roy. "Bhutan doesn't have diplomatic ties with any of the 5 UNSC permanent members". The Economic Times. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-520-20408-9
- ISBN 978-1-134-19408-7
- ^ "Taiwan's Growing Diplomatic Isolation".
- ^ Chu, Monique (12 September 2001). "Taiwan and the United Nations - Withdrawal in 1971 was an historic turning point". Taipei Times. Archived from the original on Mar 24, 2024.
- ^ 400 jaar handel – Four centuries of Japanese–Dutch trade relations: 1609–2009 Archived 2008-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ronald P. Toby, State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, (1984) 1991.
- ^ Thomas C. Smith, The Agrarian Origins of Modern Japan, Stanford Studies in the Civilizations of Eastern Asia, Stanford, Calif., 1959,: Stanford University Press.
- ^ Mary Elizabeth Berry, Japan in Print: Information and Nation in the Early Modern Period, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.
- ^ Albert Craig, Chōshū in the Meiji Restoration, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1961; Marius B. Jansen, Sakamoto Ryōma and the Meiji Restoration, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1961.
- ^ a b Drew (PhD), Chris (2023-07-30). "25 Isolationism Examples (2023)". helpfulprofessor.com. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
- ^ Howard W. Allen, "Isolationism and German-Americans." Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 57.2 (1964): 143-149.
- ^ Joseph E. Cuddy, Irish-America and National Isolationism: 1914-1920 (1965)
- ^ Lane Crothers, "The cultural roots of isolationism and internationalism in American foreign policy." Journal of Transatlantic Studies 9.1 (2011): 21-34. online
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8014-8957-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-395-90132-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7391-4251-6
- ^ Braumoeller, Bear F. (2010) "The Myth of American Isolationism." Foreign Policy Analysis 6: 349–71.
- ^ Warren F. Kuehl and Gary B. Ostrower, "Internationalism" Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy ed. Alexander DeConde (2002) online
- JSTOR 40209494. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- ^ Larison, Daniel (2020-09-30). "Getting Rid of the Myth of 'Isolationism'". The American Conservative. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
- ^ "Are Republicans Really Turning Back to Isolationism?". American Enterprise Institute - AEI. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
References
- Barry, Tom. "A Global Affairs Commentary: The Terms of Power," Foreign Policy in Focus, November 6, 2002, University Press.
- Chalberg, John C. (1995). Isolationism: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. OCLC 30078579
- Sullivan, Michael P. "Isolationism." World Book Deluxe 2001. CD-ROM.
China and Japan
- OCLC 60697079
- OCLC 413558
- Glahn, Richard Von. (1996). Fountain of Fortune: Money and Monetary Policy in China, 1000–1700. Berkeley: University of California Press. OCLC 34323424
- OCLC 413111
- Smith, Thomas C. (1959). The Agrarian Origins of Modern Japan. Stanford: Stanford University Press. OCLC 263403
- OCLC 9557347
United States
- Adler, Selig. The Isolationist Impulse: Its Twentieth Century Reaction (1957); says it's based on economic self-sufficiency and the illusion of security, together with Irish and German ethnic factors.
- Graebner, Norman A. (1956). The New Isolationism; a Study in Politics and Foreign Policy Since 1950. New York: Ronald Press. OCLC 256173
- Kupchan, Charles A. Isolationism: A History of America's Efforts to Shield Itself from the World (Oxford University Press, USA, 2020). online; also see online review
- Nichols, Christopher McKnight (2011). "Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2011. OCLC 676725368
- Nordlinger, Eric A. (1995). Isolationism Reconfigured: American Foreign Policy for a New Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press. OCLC 31515131
- Rose, Kenneth D. American Isolationism Between the World Wars: The Search for a Nation's Identity (Routledge, 2021) online.
- Weinberg, Albert K. "The Historical Meaning of the American Doctrine of Isolation." American Political Science Review 34#3 (1940): 539–547. in JSTOR
Primary sources
- Washington, George "Washington's Farewell Address 1796." Yale Law School Avalon Project, 2008. Web. 12 Sept 2013.