isolationism
[ahy-suh-ley-shuh-niz-uh m, is-uh-]
- the policy or doctrine of isolating one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc., seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement and remain at peace by avoiding foreign entanglements and responsibilities.
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Origin of isolationism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
negligencedisdaincarelessnessinattentionapathylacknonchalancealienationdisinterestdisregardinertiainsensitivitycallousnesslethargycoolnessstoicismneutralitydisinterestednessimpartialitydispassionExamples from the Web for isolationism
Contemporary Examples
Yet American minimalism, isolationism, realism, mind-our-own-business-ism—whatever you want to call it—is cyclical.
So how does he end up with the leader of American isolationism?
Cheney tacitly bashed Paul last month, saying an “increasing strain of isolationism” is taking over their party.
Paul, by talking up his isolationism, would goad Romney into sounding like Dick Cheney.
The cold war lasted half a century, but isolationism never left the conservative DNA.
Historical Examples
We have made it equally dear that we will not retreat to isolationism.
State of the Union Addresses of Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman
Perfectionism, no less than isolationism or imperialism or power politics, may obstruct the paths to international peace.
State of the Union Addresses of Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
This is a fact: Strength in the pursuit of peace is no vice; isolationism in the pursuit of security is no virtue.
Isolationism would not only tie our hands in fighting enemies, it would keep us from helping our friends in desperate need.
isolationism
- a policy of nonparticipation in or withdrawal from international affairs
- an attitude favouring such a policy
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
isolationism
The doctrine that a nation should stay out of the disputes and affairs of other nations. The United States practiced a policy of isolationism until World War I and did not pursue an active international policy until after World War II. (See “entangling alliances with none.”)
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.