Endowed with abundant natural resources, separated from conflicts in Europe and Asia by two oceans, and having peaceful relations with its only neighbors —Mexico and Canada— American foreign policy has, since the country’s founding, passed through periods of relative isolationism. Nowadays, many Americans feel that Europe’s challenges are not America’s challenges. Costly and indecisive conflicts that came in the wake of 9/11 have turned many Americans away from foreign entanglements, choosing political leaders that focus on domestic issues. American foreign policy is truly at a crossroads. Old alliances are fraying, while adversaries jostle to fill voids created by American withdrawal from world affairs. What will come from this change? Is the “indispensable America” that dominated world affairs since the end of World War II turning inward and away from the leadership role that many Americans have come to take for granted?
Duncan McCampbell, J.D., is an Associate Professor in the College of Management at Metropolitan State University.