The founding fathers were, for the most part, wise men, but they were only human. Their beliefs about foreign policy, in some ways, do not make sense today. If the founders were alive today, I believe they would hold different views, on foreign policy, that were consistant with a different set of circumstances. Two hundred years ago, if a country decided to wage war against America, it would take months for the invasion to take place. Today, missiles can be launched from thousands of miles away and blow up American cities hours later.Amazing Joe!
America was relatively isolationist in the thirties and early forties, before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many Americans believed that Europe's problems were none of our business. We watched as Hitler invaded one country after another, because after all it, wasn't our problem. Had America entered the war earlier, much of the carnage of World War II might have been avoided.
Because of advances in transportation and communication, our world is a dramatically different place than the founders lived in. The world has effectively grown smaller.
It was probably wise to practice an isolationist strategy in the eighteenth century; it does not make sense today. Our national security requires a policy of engagement; we have no choice. Originally Posted by joe bloe
You go from one post where every sentence is nonsense, to this post which I tend to agree with every sentence.
Well done, hope for you yet.
Actually, on re reading and reading other comments, maybe i misunderstand what you mean by 'engagement'. I mean discourse, trade, the things Jefferson was talking about. Maybe you mean military engagement? In which case i disagree strongly, in general, but not necessarily on specific.
