Isolationism, Properly Understood

FOR SOME CONSERVATIVES, THE END OF THE COLD WAR AND THE DECLINE OF THE SOVIET THREAT WAS ALSO THE END FOR ANY RATIONALE FOR AGGRESSIVE AMERICAN INTERVENTION INTO WORLD AFFAIRS. SOME PROTESTED AGAINST THE GULF WAR AND CALLED FOR A RETURN TO THE GOLDEN AGE OF ISOLATIONISM. THEY ARGUED THAT THIS WAS A LONG-HELD CONSERVATIVE TENET. HOWEVER, A CLOSE ANALYSIS OF THE HISTORY OF U.S. INTERVENTION IN THE WORLD REVEALS THAT ISOLATIONISM IS ACTUALLY A LIBERAL CREED. THE MYTH THAT THE UNITED STATES ONCE HAD AN ISOLATIONIST GOLDEN AGE HAS HAD THE PERVERSE EFFECT OF HOOKING CONSERVATIVES INTO DEFENDING IN THE NAME OF TRADITION A PHILOSOPHY OF LIBERALISM THAT THEY HAVE OTHERWISE DEPLORED.