The Isolationist President
The Isolationist President
President Bush spoke at length about isolationism in his State of the Union address, and he’s repeated the theme in subsequent speeches. In defending his actions, Bush builds up a straw man: “In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting — yet it ends in danger and decline.” So who exactly is isolationist?
Let’s look at Bush’s record over the past year:
Nonproliferation Treaty — May 2005: The President said that a nuclear weapon in the hands of a terrorist is the gravest threat to America. Yet in May 2005 at the five year international review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Bush administration sent mid-level representatives and blocked efforts to strengthen the treaty.
UN World Summit – September 2005: President Bush said that he was committed to reforming and modernizing the United Nations. Again his rhetoric proved empty. First, he bypassed Congress and appointed John Bolton, a man ideologically opposed to the United Nations. Second, the U.S. delegation under Bolton’s leadership tore up the draft agreement that had taken months to prepare – resulting in a September summit that failed to produce significant reforms on management, the Secretariat, and on human rights.
Summit of the Americas – November 2005: The President came into office promising to tackle U.S.-Latin American relations with new vigor. Yet when Bush visited the region in November, his fellow heads of state were “complaining of his administration’s neglect of and indifference to the region for five years.” Following the failed summit, the New York Times reported, “the feeling among many Latin Americans” was that the United States came “with little to offer other than the usual nostrums about free trade, open markets, privatization and fiscal austerity, the same recipe that has vastly increased social inequality throughout Latin America during the past decade.”
President Bush visits China – November 2005: President Bush says he is concerned about China’s human rights abuses, military development, and China’s exchange rate policy. Yet his visit to China resulted in no progress in any of these areas. The Washington Post story — “Bush trip to Asia meets low expectations” — noted that, “On a wide variety of issues, from trade to security to human rights, Bush won no concrete agreements from any of his summit partners.”
UN Climate Change Conference in Montreal – December 2005: Here the President has been consistent. Not content to simply remain outside international agreements on climate change, the U.S. is now trying to block other countries from making progress without it. In an attempt to scuttle the Montreal conference, the U.S. delegation staged a dramatic walk-out during talks on climate change.
WTO Summit in Hong Kong – December 2005: President Bush said he was committed to the successful completion of the Doha development trade round. Yet the President’s trade negotiators have not had a single notable success. At the WTO summit in Hong Kong, they failed to make any progress in completing the Doha round, and had to scramble to ensure the round didn’t completely collapse. Even Rob Portman, the head of the U.S. delegation, admitted that “the results to date are tepid, at best.”
Iraq and Our Shrinking Coalition: The President says stay the course. But the U.S. is becoming more and more isolated, as countries in the “coalition of the willing†become less and less willing to follow the Bush administration’s lead. When the war began there were 48 countries in the coalition. Only 26 remain.
– Max Bergmann
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Bush is an imperialist and a fascist who wants an empire!
He believes in attacking other nations for oil and revenge!
Dubya wants to be Emperor of the world!
February 3rd, 2006 at 8:45 pmfancy max, you da man!
February 3rd, 2006 at 8:51 pmDisagreeing with leftwing positions is not the definition of isolationism. Pathetic spin, Max.
February 3rd, 2006 at 8:53 pmWhy is leaving Iraq now being relegated to mean Isolationism?
February 3rd, 2006 at 9:09 pmWe do not want to withdraw from the world stage ala Lindberg, who by the was a republican. But the Bush junta obviously does not have the tools to work with diplomats, see anything said by Johnboy Bolton. How can team Bush improve out international relationships that they have so effectively destoyed.
#3 Nope American, looks to me like Max was pointing out how the ‘facts are biased’. The two facts in the post give concrete examples of US obstructionism to the furtherance of treaties that hvae contributed to the non-proliferation of WMDs. Those are the facts. What Mr Bush waffles about is something else entirely…
February 3rd, 2006 at 9:26 pmI said the administration was practicing isolationism right after the SOTU. That’s why he’s often called bubble-boy.
February 3rd, 2006 at 9:31 pmthumbing your nose to the rest of the world. Basically unilaterally invading nations of your choice. Dictacting to other nations as if they were children. Hmmm…sounds like a good way to be alone in the world. I know that the policy of this administration is not isolationism but what they are doing will get the same result.
February 3rd, 2006 at 11:03 pmIf I remember correctly, bush had never traveled outside the U.S. before his (s)election to president. Since then he has consistently thunbed his nose to the rest of world. For him to speak of Isolationism is pretty funny.
February 3rd, 2006 at 11:23 pmAnd what about the Kyoto fiasco?
February 3rd, 2006 at 11:45 pm#9
February 4th, 2006 at 12:36 amand backing out of the World Court, trashing the Geneva Convention Accords, etc.
Disagreeing with leftwing positions is not the definition of isolationism. Pathetic spin, Max.
Comment by American
He’s right. Historically it’s disagreeing with right wing positions, like Bush I disagreeing with Pat Buchanan, Buchanan disagreeing with Bush II, or the left in this country disagreeing with the right who didn’t want to go to war with Hitler. The right in this country loved Hitler.
The definition of isolationism.
In point of fact, Bushco are neo-liberals, in the global politics sense. The left is becoming more conservative.
February 4th, 2006 at 12:58 amIsolationism is a foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist military and political policy with a policy of economic nationalism (protectionism). In other words, it asserts both of the following:
Political rulers should avoid entangling alliances with other nations and avoid all wars not related to direct territorial self-defense.
There should be legal barriers to prevent trade and cultural exchange with people in other states.
The term “isolationism” was coined by military interventionists as a pejorative term during World War I to refer to people who opposed the United States’ entry into that war. Later, the term “isolationism” was used 1939-41 to refer to opponents of United States’ entry into World War Two. The two most prominent leaders were Charles Lindbergh and historian Charles A. Beard. See America First Committee. “Isolationism” is often misused to refer to non-interventionism in general, rather than non-intervention conjoined with economic nationalism.
February 4th, 2006 at 1:01 amI was an isolationist once. I had been throwing feces and urine love cocktails on the screws and bulls so they put me in the SHU.
February 4th, 2006 at 1:04 amthere is no doubt in my mind that the use of the term “isolationism” by bush in his sotu address was a deliberate effort to mislead and the responses i’ve been reading to it so far only validate that belief… there is nothing about the u.s. role in global affairs in the last 60 years that is isolationist… interventionist, certainly… but the key hallmark of bushco in the world arena has NOT been isolationist… rather, bushco has both expanded and strengthened u.s. interventionism and done so in the most disturbing way – virtual unilateralism… hiding that unilateralism under the absurd language of “coalition of the willing” was the thinnest of fig leaves… as we should well know by now, bushco does everything in its power to keep us from discussing the real issues… by getting us all to appropriate large amounts of bandwidth talking about isolationism is playing right into their hands… thank you, karl rove…
Visit my blog: And, yes, I DO take it personally
February 4th, 2006 at 1:12 amto be isolated as a nation is one thing, to be alienated as a group of what, 400 million people on a world stage, is quite another.
As an Englishman living in central Europe, maybe i can inject here a popular opinion among people i know; not just leftwingers, but people of all ages and backgrounds from many parts of the world…
The USA is alone out there, except for a few hangers-on who are scared to oppose the Government who pull out all the stops, and leave no stone unturned when it comes to making known who are their friends and who are their enemies. Shame they don’t apply the same vigour in helping their own people.
And as W says, “If you’re not with us, you’re against us.” Which for me, is the absolute epitome of the Bush administration’s policy – that of an extremist ideological group intent on moulding the world in their own image; No matter how repugnant that is. with, or against. Its that simple for these guys.
Let me shortly insert a phrase from “thud” by terry pratchett, one of the great 21st century philosophers in my opinion. He writes (something like)…
“If you’re not with us, you’re against us. Yeah right… if you’re not an apple, you’re a banana.”
And so it is that the world is not with them, and their narrow-minded, bigoted and extremist views continue to alienate the whole of US society from the rest of the world, which must really be a bugger for you guys. So sympathies, the little good it does, and Kudos for the fight you guys put up. One day, (2009???) i hope some of the damage done by this faux-government of yours can be reversed, at least the trends anyway, though i imagine it will be some decades before the world forgets the legacy this administration will leave behind.
February 4th, 2006 at 1:40 amoh yeah, on a briefer note, how come Bush is always coming up with false enemies and non-existent opposition? okay, maybe because he can’t deal with the real ones, sure, but who are all these people that say all the things that he says they say when he says… “there are those who say…” and other such nonsense diatribe.
Actually, if one pays any attention to political rhetoric in the states, i think one will find very little mention of the steadfast opposition to the USA embracing non-isolationism as such. Where are the Democrats’ billboards that scream for less international co-operation, urging for the US citizens to retreat into the inviting world of isolation? INVITING?
In a world of one, who will send the invitations?
I would love to hear the speech beginning “there are those who think I am an incompetent liar…” That text i would love to hear, and more to the point, there actually are.
February 4th, 2006 at 1:55 ammeekowarrior > where do you live? Just curious since you say you are not an American. I am not sure if our nation will survive to January 2009 when Bush’s term ends! WE may all be dead after he attacks Iran and sets off nuclear WWIII > very sad year ahead!
February 4th, 2006 at 3:05 amJay – I live in central germany and i am english. I am unfortunately somewhat addicted to following the politics of the USA… I am not sure if this is to feed some kind of sick notion in my mind that either a) i must suffer with the rest of you, b)stems from another kind of sick mental notion, a bit like watching erm, lets say some kind of emergency surgical operation (crap analogy actually) which is gross and makes you wretch and you want it to stop because you can feel the patient’s pain, yet you keep watching in horrified fascination at what might be the outcome, whether it be death, or a slow and painful recovery, you just want to know.
Being in Germany, the day to day corruptions of the Bush GOP, countless political scandals etc. I could quite easily ignore, the bearing on my life is so little. The slightly bigger aspects however, i.e. everything else the bush administration touts on a world stage, is leading my life and the life of the children i one day hope to have into some dangerous and dark times. Needless to say, i want to avoid this at all costs.
So while i am out of the fray, i am certainly within range of that mushroom cloud, so to speak.
February 4th, 2006 at 4:24 amJay – I live in central germany and i am english. I am unfortunately somewhat addicted to following the politics of the USA… I am not sure if this is to feed some kind of sick notion in my mind that either a) i must suffer with the rest of you, b)stems from another kind of sick mental notion, a bit like watching erm, lets say some kind of emergency surgical operation (crap analogy actually) which is gross and makes you wretch and you want it to stop because you can feel the patient’s pain, yet you keep watching in horrified fascination at what might be the outcome, whether it be death, or a slow and painful recovery, you just want to know.
meekowarrior,
Here we call that the kind of fascination and horror we feel as we watch a slow motion train wreck (Bushco destroying America) repulsed by the carnage but unable to look away. Nothing lasts forever. Considering the accelerating pace of life in the modern world, the fact that America made it this far is amazing in and of itself.
February 4th, 2006 at 4:52 amYes meekowarrior the world war that Bush may ignite soon could sweep Europe into the nuclear destruction too!
Our government and military have gone insane under Fuhrer Bush, as I refer to him, so nobody knows what he will do next!
Since you are in Germany, a nation that had a madman once, you probably are watching my country with horror!
February 4th, 2006 at 4:54 amI already thought that his plan to isolate America in his speech BS fromthe get-go without the evidence brought up by Max. I mean lets face it the first set to isolationism is making the borders of one’s country secure from hostile alien force and invasion.
This country is so open and lackluster in security that a terrorist with some form of logical flow chart could easily draw ways to sneak weapons into this country and cause havoc. Bush doesn’t understand that terror doesnt necessary have to work with “alot” or people, it juse needs to surprise.
Having extra security on holidays doesn’t exactly prevent terrorism in my opinion. Personally, I don’t think Bush possesses the ability to read or write at the college level. I’ve seen many “stoner friends” pass with a diploma by cheating and paying others to work for them. It’s scary to think our President cheated his way to the presidency.
February 4th, 2006 at 5:13 amPupil > Bush is a certified lunatic, but Karl Rove tells him he is brilliant > which is rediculous!
Bush probably has NO idea that the Mexican border is wide open for terrorists, or he does NOT give a damn! Either way his so-called “War on Terror” is phony!
February 4th, 2006 at 5:20 amLet’s also go back to the first months of the Bush Presidency:
1) immediate repudiation of Kyoto, contradicting his Interior Secretary’s recent statement
2) Immediate disengagemtn in North Korea, embarrasing Colin Powell’s recent statement at the time
Bus is the isolationist. Karl’s pulling a fast one.
Will the Dems counter it? Nah, too much trouble.
February 4th, 2006 at 9:42 amWhy is leaving Iraq now being relegated to mean Isolationism?
Comment by Flippant #4
Flip,
The same reason the previously labeled “war on terror” has now become “the long war”…
…or tax cuts for the wealthy became “tax relief”…
…or Social Security Privatization became “Social Security Reform”…
The republiscum change the labels to mislead and keep the opposition off balance…
…to frame the debate in terms more favorable to themselves…
..it’s all a bunch of bullsh*t rhetoric and propaganda…
…but Dumbed down America slops it up…
What America has to do is RECOGNIZE the greatest con, scam, grifters this country has ever been exposed to “The Criminal Bushite Junta”…
…if you think they’re keeping you safe, and are all decent, moral, honorable American patriots, I’ve got a “bridge” in Alaska I’d like to hook you up with…
February 4th, 2006 at 10:37 amBush apparently calls anyone who doesn’t join him in wanting to wage war on all countries which he decrees “undemocratic” as “isolationist” while he lives in complete denial that he has turned his back on the world, reneged on treaties, snubbed international cooperation, insulted other nations, and put a bombastic, bellicose man in charge of representing us at the UN.
February 4th, 2006 at 1:44 pmThe clueless cowboy of the world is a mocking title for him, but it doesn’t nearly approach the seriousness of the long-lasting, harmful ramifications of his being POTUS.
Apparently the isolationist movement in America represented by Pat Bucannan was offended, and thought Bush was talking about HIM in the SOTU speech. (maybe he was).
He responded with a “hey we had nothing to do with your lousy losing war, don’t blame it on us” commentary.
Personally I don’t like the neocons or the paleoconservatists, they’re all horseshit…but it’s fun to see them swipe at each other once in a while.
February 4th, 2006 at 2:22 pmConsolidation Consolidation
Debt control with debt loans who grants debt control.
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:06 am