Is America Becoming Isolationist?

Maybe so.  Certainly both candidates have made clear their intentions to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan (they’re already out of Iraq) and to steer clear of Syrian involvement.

President Obama’s reluctance to get the US more involved in foreign affairs is well known.  (Think of “leading from the rear” in Libya.) 

But Governor Romney’s debate statements were a bit puzzling.  While the GOP nominee is not known as a foreign policy authority, he, nonetheless, has previously voiced support for a stronger military presence on the international scene than has his foe.

Of course, Gov. Romney may have simply adopted the attitude that would have the most appeal to undecided voters. 

But there may be more to it than that. 

Polls make clear that Americans across party lines are tired of our Middle East involvement.  Our efforts to help are seemingly received not only with ingratitude, but actual hostility.  And the fact that “allies” are killing our troops (“green on blue”) makes us understandably furious. 

Yet, as appealing as the urge to remove our forces from various outposts may be, it is best resisted. 

We will be less – not more – safe if we stand behind the walls of Fortress America.  That might have been a sound policy in 1912, with World War I looming.  Certainly, Woodrow Wilson’s plan to wage war (“to make the world safe for democracy’) didn’t exactly work out as planned. 

But in 2012, can we remove ourselves from such hot spots as Afghanistan and escape consequences? 

It is a cliché and undeniably true that nature abhors a vacuum.  We can expect our enemies to fill any space from which we depart. 

But the isolationist instinct is plainly embedded in our national character.  Europeans and others came to settle in America because they wanted to leave their world behind them. 

And so, after World War I was over, we retreated from world affairs.  And, of course, when it came time for World War II, we paid a severe price due to our lack of preparation. 

Evidently, here we go again.  Who will be our 1930s “Winston Churchill” warning us of the calamity ahead?