Obamist Isolationism? What are they thinking in Davos?

[pampango]

Fears of American Isolationism Dominate the Davos Forum

Because the United States remains a frame of reference for the world, all eyes are turned towards Washington to determine whether it will continue on the path of disengagement, or will temper what is referred to as "Obamist isolationism".

What will be present in and outside of the different meetings held there will be the relationship between the United States and Russia, particularly in terms of how it reflects on hot-button regional issues, most prominently those of Iran and Syria. Nevertheless, the forum has not set apart a session for discussing the matter of Syria despite its urgent nature - and perhaps very much so because of this. The forum's organizers perhaps sought to avoid confrontation and to spare Russia a campaign that would criticize it for its policies. They may also have sought to spare the United States from being demanded to further clarify its position on Syria.

Syria's problem is not just Russia, for whom Syria has become a mere arena for fighting Jihadists and a mere naval base in Tartus. Syria's problem also resides in it being the victim of "Obamist isolationism", if the US President were to persist in taking such a direction in his second term. Then, the main feature of the global gathering in Davos next year will be the opposite of what it is today - "resilient dynamism". The international discussion may well then become: what has American isolationism done this time?

Indeed, American isolationism in the 1920s and 1930s resulted in the rise of Fascism and the emergence of Communism. In this century, American isolationism may well lead to the rise of a qualitatively new form of Jihadism, one that would dwarf Al-Qaeda in comparison.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raghida-dergham/fears-of-american-isolati_b_2505392.html

Obama is about as far from an isolationist as you can get unless the 1%'ers at Davos define it as unwilling to invade another country after completing the withdrawal from one and in the process of withdrawing from the other. Obama is engaged with the UN and every other international body there is. He is hardly building walls around the country and refusing to engage constructively with the rest of the world.

American isolationism in the 1920's and, less so, in the 1930's, may have contributed to the rise of Fascism and the consolidation of Communism, but Europe itself was much more to blame for both of those.