Neutralism and United States Foreign Policy

Abstract

Nationalism dominated our foreign policy until at least the opening of the twentieth century. It was opposed to military invasions or wars aris ing from European imperialistic theories of foreign policy. After the Spanish- American War, two trends appear: one based on the European concepts, the other a doctrinaire neutralism. Our military, legal, and diplomatic leaders and teachers of international law become adherents of the classical European foreign policy concepts. At the same time, European foreign policy becomes increas ingly influenced by classical American concepts. Those concepts should again guide the foreign policy of the United States.—Ed.