Farewell Address To George Washington's Foreign Policy

In his Farewell Address in 1796 George Washington heeded a final word warning, a last piece of advice to the country regarding relations with foreign nations. “...avoid entangling alliances”. Washington was not an idealist, he was level headed with a realistic understanding of global affairs, allowing him to determine the best course of public action based on self-interest. And perhaps his sectionalism was what saved our government’s development all those years ago. In his speech George Washington seemed to stress the dangers of foreign influence. He predicted that the greatest possible threat to the young United States was foreign power. George Washington admonished the nation to stay away from permanent Alliances. He explained that foreign nations could not be trusted, and that they would do nothing more than pursue their own interests when forming international treaties. Rather

Washington suggested improving foreign commercial affairs that could be mutually beneficial to both parties involved, all while keeping as little political connection with others as possible seeing as they little to nothing to do with American interests. Although now controversial, a few Americans still recognize Washington's words as wise and perhaps the best policy to refer to when making international decisions, that the United States should withdraw from foreign affairs whenever possible. In our modern day setting, however this is not the case. In the name of global good as opposed to our own good we have recklessly implanted ourselves into world government. Foreign affairs now take up a vast majority of our time, resources, money, and military. The effects are definitely being felt as our economy continues to fluctuate with