The essential American fairy tale is that we are a nation of strong loners who don't need a safety net and who don't care about the rest of the world and its problems. These sentiments often collide with reality, as these same loners eagerly collect Medicare and Social Security benefits. However, our taste for foreign policy, especially when it involves giving money to undeserving countries, remains isolationist on both the left and right.
While many applaud Joe Biden's efforts to shore up the transatlantic NATO alliance, a large minority of our fellow countrymen would turn inward and ignore the rest of the world. Sorry folks, but that is just not possible when our country has what is arguably an empire to protect and the global democracy project to preserve. Biden's speech in Poland yesterday was a pitch perfect call for a new American internationalism. He declared our resolve to stand by Ukraine in its fight against Russia for "as long as it takes". Unfortunately that phrase may ultimately mean 2 more years if a Republican with an isolationist policy is elected. Demonizing foreigners has always been a strategy in national elections. If I was advising President Zelensky, I would advise moving quickly to eject the Russians from Ukrainian territory.
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