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Quiet Revolutions: NATO, Congress, and American Isolationism, 1949 and 1998
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| | Unformatted Document Text:
QUIET REVOLUTIONS:
NATO, C
ONGRESS
,
AND
A
MERICAN
I
SOLATIONISM
, 1949
AND
1998
Jennifer L. Erickson
Department of Government
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
## email not listed ##
A
BSTRACT
From its founding, the United States followed a course of foreign policy isolationism, first set forth byGeorge Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Yet since 1945, America has chosen to depart from thisisolationist past and instead build and expand its international commitments. However, the politicaljustification for this fundamental shift away from mainstream isolationism cannot be reduced simply to amatter of threat perceptions. How then was the United States able to embark on a sustained path ofinternationalism, lasting beyond the 1990s, and ultimately champion what it had once so vigorouslyavoided: an entangling alliance in the form of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Toaddress this question, I will examine two critical points for post-1945 U.S. foreign policy – the 1949founding of NATO and its 1998 expansion – in the context of Senatorial debates and hearings precedingthese historic votes. I argue that these votes, while groundbreaking, were both logical and legitimatecourses of action, based on a growing precedent of internationalist programs and legislations, over timebuilding momentum and making more long-term, involved commitments more acceptable to Americansensibilities. While the founding and enlargement of NATO fundamentally transformed the foundationsof American foreign policy, shifting isolationism to the periphery, these revolutions were ultimately non-jarring natural extensions of the foreign policy trajectory begun after Pearl Harbor and World War II.Finally, I will end with some projections for the post-Iraq alliance, in which a possible new trajectory ofunilateralism is emerging, though not without considerable controversy.
Prepared for presentation at the 2005 International Studies Association Annual Meeting
Honolulu, Hawaii
1-5 March 2005
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| | Authors: Erickson, Jennifer. |
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QUIET REVOLUTIONS:
NATO, C
ONGRESS
,
AND
A
MERICAN
I
SOLATIONISM
, 1949
AND
1998
Jennifer L. Erickson
Department of Government
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
## email not listed ##
A
BSTRACT
From its founding, the United States followed a course of foreign policy isolationism, first set forth by
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Yet since 1945, America has chosen to depart from this
isolationist past and instead build and expand its international commitments. However, the political
justification for this fundamental shift away from mainstream isolationism cannot be reduced simply to a
matter of threat perceptions. How then was the United States able to embark on a sustained path of
internationalism, lasting beyond the 1990s, and ultimately champion what it had once so vigorously
avoided: an entangling alliance in the form of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). To
address this question, I will examine two critical points for post-1945 U.S. foreign policy – the 1949
founding of NATO and its 1998 expansion – in the context of Senatorial debates and hearings preceding
these historic votes. I argue that these votes, while groundbreaking, were both logical and legitimate
courses of action, based on a growing precedent of internationalist programs and legislations, over time
building momentum and making more long-term, involved commitments more acceptable to American
sensibilities. While the founding and enlargement of NATO fundamentally transformed the foundations
of American foreign policy, shifting isolationism to the periphery, these revolutions were ultimately non-
jarring natural extensions of the foreign policy trajectory begun after Pearl Harbor and World War II.
Finally, I will end with some projections for the post-Iraq alliance, in which a possible new trajectory of
unilateralism is emerging, though not without considerable controversy.
Prepared for presentation at the 2005 International Studies Association Annual Meeting
Honolulu, Hawaii
1-5 March 2005
|
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