Graduated with a master's degree in diplomacy and international relations from the American University in Washington DC, Louis Sarkozy is also a graduate of the Valley Forge Military Academy and the University of New York, with a double specialization in history and philosophy. . He is the author of
Napoleon's Library: The Emperor, his books, and their influence on the Napoleonic Era
.
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Nothing is more American than isolationism. Presidents like George Bush and Joe Biden, with their inclination toward internationalism, have been exceptions, while Donald Trump is more of the norm. From the founding of the United States in 1776 until World War I, the majority of heads of state, regardless of party, preferred to avoid engagement in international affairs.
Even after Woodrow Wilson championed
“crusading internationalism,”
as Henry Kissinger wrote, in 1918, the United States and its Congress refused to follow him. They rejected the Treaty of Versailles and never joined the League of Nations. It wasn't until 1945 that America burst onto the world stage again, adopting the leadership they still cling to today. Today's United States - which some call the American Empire - would be unrecognizable to the presidents of the 19th and 18th centuries.
“The nation
,” said George Washington to his contemporaries in his farewell letter, written in 1796 after 20 years of public service, “which
nourishes habitual hatred or affection towards another is, to a certain extent, slave"
. Anxious to maintain strict neutrality between France and England, Washington urged his country never to engage in permanent alliances. One can only imagine what he would have thought of NATO... However, if Washington's point of view was predominant, it was not the only one. As demonstrated by the Anglophile Alexander Hamilton and the Francophile Thomas Jefferson, as well as more recently the leadership adopted by Dwight D. Eisenhower after 1945.
“We must be wary
,” continued John Quincy Adams, son of John, then Secretary of State in 1821, “
of foreign monsters who always want to destroy
. ”
In this case, John Quincy Adams wanted not to intervene in the South American wars of independence, while legions of his opponents wanted to create liberal democracies on the American model, showing that the American desire to build democracies abroad also comes from far away.
“She
(America)
is the benefactor of the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and defender only of her own. She will support the general cause by the tone of her voice and the benevolent sympathy of her example
. This then is the nature of American isolationism: to lead by example and not to intervene, to perfect its national institutions and not to interfere in others.
For the first time in nearly five decades, a majority of Republicans believe the United States should stay out of world affairs, rather than play an active role.
Louis Sarkozy
During its first century of existence, American foreign policy was defined above all by the Monroe Doctrine, the diplomatic equivalent of an “access denied” sign: separate spheres of influence for the Americas and Europe, non-colonization and non-intervention. In short, a clear message to leave the United States alone.
Even in February 1939, when the Nazi threat was evident, the America First Committee organized a rally to stay out of the conflict, which brought together more than 20,000 people to Madison Square. New York Garden. “America First” was not a fringe movement; it had more than 800,000 members, was created in the prestigious halls of Yale University and counted among its members future President Gerald Ford, future Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, future Peace Corps director Sargent Shriver and Kingman Brewster Jr, who would later become president of Yale! Isolationism is, therefore, a common denominator and a potentially multiplier electoral factor. American history and its domestic politics indeed correspond to Carl Friedrich's 1942 statement in his book
The New Image of the Common Man
, where he asserted that the typical American citizen - or likely Trump voter - "
flees the foreign policy... Because the decisions in this area are of a nature which removes them from the understanding of ordinary mortals... Such a policy in a democratic national government oscillates, as American democracy has oscillated, between isolationism and internationalism".
Joe Biden, who believes that the United States has a duty to honor its position as founder of the modern world order, finds himself confronted with the unpopularity of interventionism. For the first time in nearly five decades, a majority of Republicans believe the United States should stay out of world affairs, rather than play an active role. Another irony of this upcoming election: in his vision of international relations, Donald Trump is opposed to his Republican predecessors. This is partly why, despite her control over the party, a significant percentage of voters (between 10 and 20% of the vote in five key states) opted for Nikki Hailey (who even won Vermont!), The former governor of South Carolina and ambassador to the United Nations, who advocates a much more neoconservative vision of leadership.
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Indeed, the old Republican guard, the one who mainly defended the disastrous military interventions in the Middle East, is terrified by Donald Trump's positions. As these lines are written, Donald Trump's supporters in Congress are expending considerable daily energy to sabotage the legislative project intended to support Ukraine. Donald Trump, if elected, will undoubtedly go even further in his withdrawal strategy. He will deprive Ukraine of arms and ammunition and will probably go so far as to withdraw from NATO, as he declared to an excited audience, leaving Russia to do "what it wants." Donald Trump is extremely proud to be the only president in recent history who has not started a foreign war. He also withdrew the United States from several international organizations, such as the Paris climate accords, the JCPOA, and the WHO.
Therefore, in anticipation of a possible victory for Donald Trump, France and Europe must get used to this idea and draw consequences from it. Nothing is more natural than an America turned in on itself. Whatever the justified - and, in my opinion, fair - attempts by President Macron to assume greater sovereignty - it is too early. The work of Jean-Dominique Merchet in
Are We Ready for War?
are interesting from this point of view. Too few funds and personnel, problematic and vulnerable supply lines and industrial processes, and European allies not yet ready to abandon the American “umbrella.” In summary,
“if, unfortunately, France found itself involved in a major war tomorrow, no, we would not be ready. It is obvious"
. Seven decades of peace and prosperity have atrophied our military capabilities.
The reluctance of certain nations of the old continent to follow the alarmism of the French president and the Polish president paradoxically reinforces the need for an American presence.
Louis Sarkozy
Donald Trump is right about history, but he is wrong about foreign policy. The entrenchment of isolationism and its conformity to the DNA of the United States does not mean that it is desirable. And it is on this point that Donald Trump's strategy is questionable. Many Republican voters are still convinced by the neoconservative doctrine of the Bush years, and everything suggests that their votes will be lacking in the next elections. In many ways, Donald Trump is both the best and worst possible Republican candidate. The best because he is every modern election strategist's dream: he has a highly motivated base that will vote for him no matter what, even if he is convicted of crimes or involved in scandals. Worse because his series of scandals, his fiery and combative style, and his revolutionary rhetoric divide much more than they unite. In one candidate are both sides of the extreme. The question of his re-election essentially comes down to whether anti-Trump Republicans will vote in sufficient numbers to weaken the base. This is why Nikki Hailey's 10-20% of voters are so important, the entire contest can rest on their shoulders!
The United States is necessary to Europe, today more than ever perhaps. The reluctance of certain nations of the old continent to follow the alarmism of the French president and the Polish president paradoxically reinforces the need for an American presence. Unless we imagine a Europe determined never to strengthen itself militarily, which of course makes no sense.
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The poor performance of Europe's arms industries - on which Ukraine depends - also shows the importance of Washington. Likewise, the Chinese problem is looming, for the moment silently, on the horizon. If Taiwan were to be invaded, how can we imagine a Europe determined to engage in such a conflict when they are weakening in the face of an offensive a few kilometers from their borders? Isolationism, in a global strategy, seems difficult to maintain in the current state of circumstances.
So, in Asia, America is needed to defend Western interests. Donald Trump's arguments are historically consistent, but they represent a mortal threat to European interests. This reminds us of the final lines of Winston Churchill's speech to the Commons in June 1940:
"The New World, with all its might and might, advances to the aid and liberation of the Old
. "
Let's hope they remain relevant.