Isolationism

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Isolationism is a category of foreign policies institutionalized by leaders who
assert that their nations' best interests are best served by keeping the affairs of
other countries at a distance. One possible motivation for limiting international
involvement is to avoid being drawn into dangerous and otherwise undesirable
conflicts. There may also be a perceived benefit from avoiding international trade
agreements or other mutual assistance pacts.[1]

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Isolationism by country
2.1 Albania
2.2 Bhutan
2.3 China
2.4 Japan
2.5 Korea
2.6 Paraguay
2.7 United States
3 See also
4 Works cited
5 References
Introduction
Isolationism has been defined as:

A policy or doctrine of trying to isolate one's country from the affairs of other
nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments,
international agreements, and generally attempting to make one's economy entirely
self-reliant; seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own
advancement, both diplomatically and economically, while remaining in a state of
peace by avoiding foreign entanglements and responsibilities.[2]

Isolationism by country
Albania
Main article: People's Socialist Republic of Albania � Self-reliance
Bhutan
Before 1999, Bhutan had banned television and the Internet in order to preserve its
culture, environment, identity etc.[3] Eventually, Jigme Singye Wangchuck lifted
the ban on television and the Internet. His son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck,
was elected as Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan, which helped forge the Bhutanese democracy.
Subsequently, Bhutan has transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a multi-party
democracy. The development of Bhutanese democracy has been marked by the active
encouragement and participation of reigning Bhutanese monarchs since the 1950s,
beginning with legal reforms such as the abolition of slavery, and culminating in
the enactment of Bhutan's Constitution [4]

China
Main article: Haijin
After Zheng He's voyages in the 15th century, the foreign policy of the Ming
dynasty in China became increasingly isolationist. The Hongwu Emperor was the first
to propose the policy to ban all maritime shipping in 1390.[5] The Qing dynasty
that came after the Ming dynasty often continued the Ming dynasty's isolationist
policies. Wokou, which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf
pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China, Japan, and Korea, and
were one of the key primary concerns, although the maritime ban was not without
some control.
Japan
Main article: Sakoku
From 1641 to 1853, the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan enforced a policy which it
called kaikin. The policy prohibited foreign contact with most outside countries.
But, the commonly held idea that Japan was entirely closed is misleading. In fact,
Japan maintained limited-scale trade and diplomatic relations with China, Korea and
Ryukyu Islands [6]

The culture of Japan developed with limited influence from the outside world and
had one of the longest stretches of peace in history. During this period, Japan
developed thriving cities, castle towns, increasing commodification of agriculture
and domestic trade,[7] wage labor, increasing literacy and concomitant print
culture,[8] laying the groundwork for modernization even as the shogunate itself
grew weak.[9]

Korea

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citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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See also: Heungseon Daewongun
In 1863, King Gojong took the throne of the Joseon Dynasty when he was a child. His
father, Regent Heungseon Daewongun, ruled for him until Gojong reached adulthood.
During the mid-1860s he was the main proponent of isolationism and the principal
instrument of the persecution of both native and foreign Catholics.

Following the division of the peninsula after independence from Japan in 1945�48,
Kim il-Sung inaugurated an isolationist totalitarian regime in the North, which has
been continued by his son and grandson to the present day. North Korea is often
referred to as "The Hermit Kingdom".

Paraguay

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citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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Just after independence was achieved, Paraguay was governed from 1814 by the
dictator Jos� Gaspar Rodr�guez de Francia, who closed the country's borders and
prohibited trade or any relation with the outside world until his death in 1840.
The Spanish settlers who had arrived just before independence had to intermarry
with either the old colonists or with the native Guarani, in order to create a
single Paraguayan people.

Francia had a particular dislike of foreigners and any who came to Paraguay during
his rule (which would have been very difficult) were not allowed to leave for the
rest of their lives. An independent character, he hated European influences and the
Catholic Church, turning church courtyards into artillery parks and confession
boxes into border sentry posts, in an attempt to keep foreigners at bay.

United States
Main article: United States non-interventionism � Isolationism Between the World
Wars
While some scholars, such as Robert J. Art, believe that the United States has an
isolationist history, other scholars dispute this by describing the United States
as following a strategy of unilateralism or non-interventionism instead.[10][11]
Robert Art makes his argument in A Grand Strategy for America (2003).[10] Books
that have made the argument that the United States followed unilaterism instead of
isolationism include Walter A. McDougall's Promised Land, Crusader State (1997),
John Lewis Gaddis's Surprise, Security, and the American Experience (2004), and
Bradley F. Podliska's Acting Alone (2010).[12] Both sides claim policy
prescriptions from George Washington's Farewell Address as evidence for their
argument.[10][11] Bear F. Braumoeller argues that even the best case for
isolationism, the United States in the interwar period, has been widely
misunderstood and that Americans proved willing to fight as soon as they believed a
genuine threat existed.[13]

Events during and after the Revolution related to the treaty of alliance with
France, as well as difficulties arising over the neutrality policy pursued during
the French revolutionary wars and the Napoleonic wars, encouraged another
perspective. A desire for separateness and unilateral freedom of action merged with
national pride and a sense of continental safety to foster the policy of isolation.
Although the United States maintained diplomatic relations and economic contacts
abroad, it sought to restrict these as narrowly as possible in order to retain its
independence. The Department of State continually rejected proposals for joint
cooperation, a policy made explicit in the Monroe Doctrine's emphasis on unilateral
action. Not until 1863 did an American delegate attend an international conference.
[14]

See also
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Isolationism
Autarky
Civil society
Country neutrality
Economic nationalism
Global issue
Globalism
Globalization
Imperium
Interconnectivity
International isolation
Monroe Doctrine
Non-interventionism
Sakoku
Splendid isolation
United States non-interventionism
Unilateralism in the United States
Sovereignty
Works cited
(Sullivan, Michael P., "Isolationism." World Book Deluxe 2001. CD-ROM.)
"Neutrality, Political," (2008). International Encyclopedia of the Social
Sciences; retrieved 2011-09-18
"South Asia :: Bhutan � the World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". CIA
World Factbook. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
O'Brien, Matt (2010-08-29). "Reporter's Notebook from Bhutan: Crashing the Lost
Horizon". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
Vo Glahn, Richard. [1996] (1996). Pit of Money: money and monetary policy in
China, c. 1000�1700. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20408-5
Ronald P. Toby, State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development
of the Tokugawa Bakufu, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, (1984) 1991.
Thomas C. Smith, The Agrarian Origins of Modern Japan, Stanford Studies in the
Civilizations of Eastern Asia, Stanford, Calif., 1959,: Stanford University Press.
Mary Elizabeth Berry, Japan in Print: Information and Nation in the Early Modern
Period, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.
Albert Craig, Choshu in the Meiji Restoration, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press, 1961; Marius B. Jansen, Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration,
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1961.
Art, Robert J. (2004). A grand strategy for America. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell
University Press. pp. 172�73. ISBN 9780801489570.
McDougall, Walter A. (1998). Promised land, crusader state : the American
encounter with the world since 1776. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 39�40.
ISBN 978-0395901328.
Podliska, Bradley F. Acting Alone: A Scientific Study of American Hegemony and
Unilateral Use-of-Force Decision Making. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2010. ISBN
978-0-7391-4251-6
Braumoeller, Bear F. (2010) "The Myth of American Isolationism." Foreign Policy
Analysis 6: 349�71.
"Internationalism". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
References
Barry, Tom. "A Global Affairs Commentary: The Terms of Power," Foreign Policy in
Focus, November 6, 2002, University Press.
Berry, Mary Elizabeth. (2006). Japan in Print: Information and Nation in the Early
Modern Period. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520237667; OCLC
60697079
Chalberg, John C. (1995). Isolationism: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven
Press. ISBN 9781565102231; OCLC 30078579
Craig, Albert. (1961). Choshu in the Meiji Restoration. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press. ISBN 9780674128507; OCLC 413558
Glahn, Richard Von. (1996). Fountain of Fortune: Money and Monetary Policy in
China, 1000�1700. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520204089;
OCLC 34323424
Graebner, Norman A. (1956). The New Isolationism; a Study in Politics and Foreign
Policy Since 1950. New York: Ronald Press. OCLC 256173
Jansen, Marius B. (1961). Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration. Princeton:
Princeton University Press. OCLC 413111
Nichols, Christopher McKnight (2011). "Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a
Global Age." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2011. OCLC
676725368
Nordlinger, Eric A. (1995). Isolationism Reconfigured: American Foreign Policy for
a New Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691043272; OCLC
31515131
Smith, Thomas C. (1959). The Agrarian Origins of Modern Japan. Stanford: Stanford
University Press. OCLC 263403
Sullivan, Michael P. "Isolationism." World Book Deluxe 2001. CD-ROM.
Toby, Ronald P. (1984). State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the
Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN
9780691054018; OCLC 9557347
Washington, George "Washington's Farewell Address 1796." Yale Law School Avalon
Project, 2008. Web. 12 Sept 2013.
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