Last Update: March 10, 2019, at 6:15 am
政策。这个政策不需要了联盟，但是全球的情况改变了。新时代的
通讯和交通产生了全球的贸易网络和移民运动，也产生了思想扩散。
"Splendid isolation" is the term used at the time for the 19th-century British diplomatic practice of avoiding permanent alliances, particularly under the governments of Lord Salisbury between 1885 and 1902. The practice emerged as early as 1822 with Britain's exit from the post-1815 Concert of Europe and continued until 1904 when Britain found it useful to establish its "Entente Cordiale" with France. It was the division of Europe into two power blocs and Britain's isolation during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) that forced Britain to finally abandon its policy of isolation.
Lord Salisbury in a caricature (1900)
However, in a speech held on 26 February 1896, the contemporary British politician Viscount Goschen still insisted on the usefulness of "splendid isolation" when he declared "We are said to be isolated, but I say that, which I know when I say that, we have but to hold out our hands and our isolation will terminate, and we shall receive welcome into several groups of other Powers. ..... In the modern system of European politics we could at any moment, I believe, make such alliances as we chose. ..... Our isolation is not an isolation of weakness, or of contempt for ourselves: it is deliberately chosen; the freedom to act as we choose in any circumstances that may arise."
In our times, diplomatic historian Margaret MacMillan argued that in 1897 Britain was indeed isolated, but far from being "splendid" this was a bad thing, for Britain had no real friends and was engaged in disputes with the United States, France, Germany, and Russia.
Sounds familiar to you ?
Taking US president Trump's policy of "America first" with all its consequences as given, we easily find paralleles to Britain's political adage of isolation and noninterference as practised in most of the 19th century.
Only to consider what US vice-president Pence said on the 2019 Munich Security Conference: "America has never been stronger than today", and which indicates a similar point of view like that expressed by Viscount Goschen in 1896 Britain: This time, America is acting out of a position of strength (real or imagined) that enables the country to seek and abandon alliances at will and according to America's changing needs.
Based on such point of view, it might make sense to court North Korea's despotic leader Kim Jong-Un, to dupe instead long-standing partners in Europe or to build a wall on the border to Mexico at enormous costs. Even some military conflict with Iran or Venezuela, based on an individual pretext and in order to control the regional oil markets, might fit into the scheme of a self-righteous policy ignoring, both, the reality of 21th century and the interests of other powerful global players.
While "splendid isolation" was working as a practicable policy during a certain era in the 19th century when functioning networks of trade and communication, including the globally acting financial markets, still did not exist and everything was simply about plundering the colonies for the benefit of the colonial powers' national economies.
In our time where global development and trade is steadily growing and diversifying in the frame of fast means of traffic and highspeed communications, any unilateral restriction like the implementation of national tariffs will necessarily generate conflict and isolate a nation that is following such hazardous proceedings. As a consequence, former partners of the US will have to keep more close together and even improve their relations with powerful competitors like China, such creating an increasing danger to US economy and damage to its political credibility.
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《美国之音》3月7日——特朗普任内第二年贸易逆差创新高 On March 6, 2019, US media like CNN, NY Times and Washington Post reported about the most dramatic development of America's national economy under the Trump administration: In what can be seen as a severe blow to president Trump, America’s Trade Deficit in goods hit a record $891 billion at the end of 2018 — the highest it’s ever been. The trade deficit is the difference between how much goods and services the US imports from other countries and how much it exports. Of course, the weakened overseas demand for American goods is partly due to a global economic slowdown and the relative strength of the US dollar. But the widening gap was also essentially caused by Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cut, which has been largely financed by government borrowing, and the trade war he escalated last year. Not only did the trade deficit increase, it increased exactly where Trump said it wouldn’t. Reducing the gap has always been a key subject of Trump's policies. |
And, by the way, British proceedings to exit from the EU ("Brexit") have already proved to be a severe nuisance to Britain's economy and credibility, not only a loss for Europe. - Just another example that "splendid isolation" might be a risky enterprise today.
And we still didn't speak about North Korea's "Juche" ideology which is often related to the word "self-reliance" and was invented by Kim Jong-Un's grandfather Kim Il-Sung: It is the ultimate example of "splendid isolation" and, maybe, this could explain why US president Trump was, at least until some days ago, so fond of N Korea's despotic leader. However, there are still chances for a better understanding between both of them, even after the crashed summit in Vietnam, as the German proverbe has it: "The rat pack are beating up each other and are friends again." ("Pack schlägt sich, Pack verträgt sich.")
Trump's 2019 CPAC address in 3 minutes You have to switch on the video sound !
President Trump's address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 2
was the longest speech of his presidency. He covered many topics, including the people
involved in Muller's Russia probe, the Green New Deal on climate control and some ugly
aspect of border security. And referring to current "immigration lottery" he added:
"I'm finding loopholes to get around the loophole because our Congress cannot."
[《华盛顿邮报》3月2日：“民主在黑暗中消亡” ，
特朗普演说在共和党的会议。]
Holding America as a Hostage
劫持美国为人质
The incredible evidence of White House information leaks
originating from fed-up Trump aides (... willfully) and from
Trump himself (... by ignoring basic security standards).
[MSNBC on March 8, 2019]
Twitter statistics and remarkable tweets for @blueprint_news (March 1st, 2019).
Top Tweet on the US-North Korea subject,
dating from March 9, and the overall tweet
statistics 15 hours after publishing.
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