The Myth Of American Isolationism Analysis

The article I will be discussing is “The Myth of American Isolationism” by Bear Braumoeller. The article addresses the mistaken belief that America was a highly isolationist state during the interwar period. Braumoeller argues the exact opposite, that America was involved in European affairs and the rest of the world. The article effectively argues that American isolationism in this period is a misconception. It is important because understanding the truth behind the false belief allows for a better understanding of the era as a whole and its relevance to current policy. Overall, Braumoeller’s article effectively disproves the myth of isolationism and then further argues why the myth has damaging effects. The basic question that the article attempts to answer is whether America was isolationist during the period between Versailles and World War

In his opening paragraphs, Braumoeller writes that “the characterization of America as an isolationist in the interwar period… is simply wrong.” Throughout his paper, he keeps with these kind of statements that, the idea he is arguing against is something that is entirely false. He also keeps his evidence straightforward and uncomplicated. His argument also catches something important which is that the misconception he is seeking to disprove stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of isolationism. He defines isolationism and then proves that America does not fit this definition in the interwar period. He suggests that people mistake various American policies of unilateralism or neutralism as isolationism. Furthermore, he asserts that even then, America was not fully either of those. He takes the time to set the difference between neutrality/alignment, unilateralism/multilateralism, and isolationism/internationalism as well to finalise the difference between these often conflated dimensions of foreign