Is the United States Turning Inward?
| Date | 01 March 1999 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070209905400101 |
| Published date | 01 March 1999 |
| Subject Matter | Essay |
RICHARD
PERLE
Is
the
United
States
turning
inward?
B
ROODING
ABOUT
WHETHERTHE UNITED
STATES
IS
TURNING
FROM
its
postwar
internationalism
to
a
new
isolationism
cannot
get
very
far
without
some
definitions.
What
is
internationalism?
What
do
we
mean
by
isolationism?
To
begin
with
what
internationalism
is
not-,
it
is
not,
in
my
view,
romantic,
uncritical
support
of
the
United
Nations
or
an
indiscrimi-
nate
belief
in
the
virtues
of
world government.
It
is
not
a
desire
to
spend
money on
overseas
'development,'
regardless
of
whether
that
money
is
spent
wisely
and
achieves
its
intended
-
or any benign
-
effect.
Notwithstanding
the
late Princess
Diana
and
others,
interna-
tionalism
is
not
a
belief
that
all
landmines,
no
matter
how they func-
tion
or
where
they
are
deployed,
are
bad.
And
internationalism
is
not
unbridled
enthusiasm
for
non-governmental organizations
with
liber-
al
agendas.
Far
too
often,
discussions on
this
topic subside
into
confusion
between
internationalism
and
liberalism.
(This
is
not
a
distinctive
Canadian
practice,
but
Canadians
are
pretty
good
at
it.)
A
failure
to
define
terms
at
the outset
only
increases
the
likelihood
of
confusion.
There
can
be
-
indeed
there
is
-
what
for
want
of
a
better
term
I
will
call
hard-headed
internationalism,
an
approach
to
world
affairs
that
Resident
Fellow,
American Enterprise
Institute,
Washington,
DC
This
issue
includes
articles
originating
at
a
conference
held
under
the
auspices
of
the
Canadian
National
Committee
of
the
International
Institute
for
Strategic
Studies
and
the
Donner
Canadian
Foundation,
Toronto,
April
1998.
The
editors thank
Robin
Hay
and
Jean-Fran•ois
Rioux
for
their
significant
editorial
contribution.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
Winter
1998-9
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