Quote Originally Posted by udsuna
So, what's wrong with a little decline? We've been the prevailing nation for the last half century. The sole (effective) super-power for the last quarter-century. Let someone else do it for a while. It's about time we said "screw you guys, we're going home" and worry about our own borders for a while.

Our own founding fathers told us to stay away from Europe. And, to keep Europe out of this hemisphere. We did good for ourselves, following that rule, until WW1. After that war, we've just been getting into everyone else's mess, and making plenty of trouble for ourselves in the process. Nothing good has come of it for us. So, decline is good, it means everyone else will stop pestering us for whatever reasons.
Being isolationist has its plus' but also its minus'. Your forefathers came from Europe, the majority of the people that have held power since have been European by descent.

Isolationism to the letter doesn't work. You cannot cut yourself off from world events. It builds distrust and lack of understanding and distrust and a lack of understanding are two of the major causes of a war in the first place. You must interact with the other nations otherwise you may forget that the world is round.