Let’s refresh our memory, shall we?
What is foreign policy? Foreign policy is the collective choices a country makes to be involved with other countries of the world. There are several different kinds of foreign policy, including political choices, economic choices, and military choices; however, on this page we will focus on military foreign policy. Of the four basic reasons for military use there are isolationism, collective security, internationalism, and imperialism. Isolationism is the non-involvement in the affairs of other nations (“Loner”), collective security pertains to working with other countries to influence different nations (“Team Player”), internationalism is the act of intervening individually in other countries to promote important national interests and/or safeguard international security (“World Policeman”), and imperialism is extending power by acquiring territory or overthrowing weaker nations to serve national interest (“World Bully”).
wwII: Team player or isolationism?
World War II (September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945) was a war that the US was initially reluctant to jump into. In fact, the United States didn't officially enter the war until December 7, 1942, four years after the start of this global conflict. However, we later ended up joining the Allies and turning the tide of the war. So was our foreign policy isolationism or collective security? To answer this question, let's go back to the state of the world after World War I.
After World War I, the countries involved were in a complete state of disarray. At the beginning of the war, all parties involved were confident that they would win, and they kept the notion that the war would be short-lived. However, after four years of the detrimental costs of war, the world was in disarray. Whole countries were thrown into poverty, economies took a bad turn, and morale was low. War costs for the US alone were $22,625,253,000, and the shocking number of 8,528,831 people dead (world net casualty count) acted like a weight pressing down over the nations who took part in the war. Thus, when news of the actions of Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito reached American ears, they chose appeasement and isolationism in order to stay out of another war. However, when Japan confronted the US directly with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US was forced to join the war. With two presidents in office during this war, Franklin Teddy Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, the US made it their goal to stop the dictators of Germany, Japan, and Italy to help France and Britain restore democracy. They chose a collective security stance on foreign policy and joined the Allied powers against the Axis powers. On January 6, 1941, Franklin T. Roosevelt presented his "Four Freedoms" speech to Congress, "We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression-- everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way-- everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want. . . everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear. . . anywhere in the world." At a time in history when Western Europe lay under Nazi oppression, President Roosevelt attempted to alert Congress and the nation of the necessity of entering WW2. In his "Four Freedoms" speech, he presented a vision in which the American ideals of individual liberties were extended throughout the world, and articulated the ideological items of the conflict.
In conclusion, our foreign policy during World War II started out as isolationism, but when directly confronted, we chose collective security and helped turn the tide of war in favor of the Allies.
After World War I, the countries involved were in a complete state of disarray. At the beginning of the war, all parties involved were confident that they would win, and they kept the notion that the war would be short-lived. However, after four years of the detrimental costs of war, the world was in disarray. Whole countries were thrown into poverty, economies took a bad turn, and morale was low. War costs for the US alone were $22,625,253,000, and the shocking number of 8,528,831 people dead (world net casualty count) acted like a weight pressing down over the nations who took part in the war. Thus, when news of the actions of Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito reached American ears, they chose appeasement and isolationism in order to stay out of another war. However, when Japan confronted the US directly with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US was forced to join the war. With two presidents in office during this war, Franklin Teddy Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, the US made it their goal to stop the dictators of Germany, Japan, and Italy to help France and Britain restore democracy. They chose a collective security stance on foreign policy and joined the Allied powers against the Axis powers. On January 6, 1941, Franklin T. Roosevelt presented his "Four Freedoms" speech to Congress, "We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression-- everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way-- everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want. . . everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear. . . anywhere in the world." At a time in history when Western Europe lay under Nazi oppression, President Roosevelt attempted to alert Congress and the nation of the necessity of entering WW2. In his "Four Freedoms" speech, he presented a vision in which the American ideals of individual liberties were extended throughout the world, and articulated the ideological items of the conflict.
In conclusion, our foreign policy during World War II started out as isolationism, but when directly confronted, we chose collective security and helped turn the tide of war in favor of the Allies.