Isolationism A History Of America’s Efforts To Shield Itself From The World - a podcast by World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth

In Washington’s farewell address of 1796, the president advised his successors to “steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world." For the first century of American history, presidents heeded Washington’s advice. But events including the Spanish-American War and the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor required new engagements.

World War II and the Cold War fundamentally changed American strategy, as the U.S. began to “run the world rather than run away from it.” Charles Kupchan asks, where is the middle ground between doing too much and doing too little?

Moderated by Jim Hollifield.

A National Security Council veteran under Presidents Obama and Clinton, Charles Kupchan is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University. He previously worked in policy planning at the U.S. Department of State and has taught at Princeton University. Kupchan earned a B.A. from Harvard, and his master’s and doctorate from Oxford University.

James F. Hollifield is the Ora Nixon Arnold Fellow in International Political Economy, Professor in the Department of Political Science, and Director of the Tower Center at SMU. He has served as an advisor to various governments in North and South America, Europe, East Asia and the Middle East and Africa, and currently chairs working groups at the World Bank and the International Development Bank. His published books, scientific articles and reports address democracy, trade, and the political economy of international migration and development.
About the Mel Kusin Lecture on National Security

Twenty years ago, Mel Kusin initiated the World Affairs Council’s International Perspective Series to raise the interest level of North Texas citizens in U.S. foreign policy. Drawing on the best minds from universities and think tanks, Mel worked closely with World Affairs Council members and the American Jewish Committee to pose questions spanning from “Options for a Nuclear Iran: Engage, Contain, or Strike?" to “Power without borders - What is the influence of non-state actors?”.

In remembrance of our dear friend, in 2019 the Council established an annual Mel Kusin National Security Lecture.
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