Isolationism And The Great Depression And World War II

During the 1920s, the United States was believed to have followed a foreign policy of isolationism that led to the Great Depression and World War II. However, this is a historical misconception known as the myth of isolationism because the U.S. followed a foreign policy in the 1920s called independent internationalism, which was a new idea to promote economic diplomacy through peaceful relations and non-military intervention. In Jeremi Suri’s Opt-Ed article, Trump is repeating the isolationism that led to the Great Depression and WWII, he argues that Donald Trump is following similar foreign policies of isolationism such as the increase on tariffs, restriction on immigration, and the dismembering of alliances, that mirror what occurred in†¦show more content†¦Howard Jones who is the author of, Crucible of Power, argues that the U.S. followed a foreign policy of independent internationalism to secure foreign markets through peaceful means and this can be seen in Latin America. Woodrow Wilson promised not to seek territorial acquisitions to the South, but would not renounce the spread of U.S. influence through economic means and this lead to the U.S. having influence in 75 percent of Latin American during the 1920s. To spread economic influence throughout Latin America the U.S. insisted it would be through peaceful policies, but continued the use of military interventionism in countries like the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua until the middle of the 1920 s. This is also an example which shows that the U.S. did not pursue an isolationist foreign policy and wanted to go out in the world and expand its markets. Suri also compares how Donald Trump wants to replace NAFTA and impose high tariffs to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act from 1930, which seeks to prove that the U.S. acted with an isolationist foreign policy to protect its home markets. 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