Opinion: increasing comfortability with isolationism throughout US threatens long-term domestic and international prosperity

Alessandra Gass, Editor-in-Chief
@agasscourant

In recent months, calls for United States withdrawal from international alliances and institutions have grown louder from the mouths of the increasingly prominent. From social media threads written by politically influential figures like Elon Musk to statements by elected officials such as Senator Mike Lee urging the United States to “get out of NATO,” isolationist sentiment is gaining traction in American political discourse – and fast. This resurgence of the ‘America first’ ideology represents more than a simple upset in partisan politics; rather, it reflects a deeply concerning shift in the very ideals our country has worked tirelessly to uphold for nearly a century. 

Before diving into the necessity of our connections beyond borders, it’s important to understand why we’re allied with specific countries and how they are vital to our long-term success as contributors to an ever-connected world. 

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) emerged from the ashes of World War II and the growing tensions of the early Cold War. Founded in 1949, the alliance represented a dramatic departure from the United State’s historical reluctance to form entangling alliances with European powers. The immense devastation of two world wars revealed to Americans how catastrophic self-alienation could be, leading policymakers to recognize how outdated our foreign policy was and understand that it not kept the nation safe from global conflict but instead caused threats overseas to metastasize until they (literally) hit our shores. 

NATO’s founding principle of collective defense transformed the security of the Western world and our nation as we know it. The promise that an attack against one member would be considered an attack against all created a powerful deterrent and provided a framework for transatlantic cooperation that has endured for over seven decades. What began as a 12-member alliance focused primarily on deterring Soviet aggression has evolved into a 32-nation organization that promotes democratic values, facilitates military coordination, and responds to diverse security challenges from terrorism to cyber threats. 

Throughout its history, NATO has served as far more than a military alliance. It has functioned as an institutional embodiment of the rules-based international order and a mechanism that works to ensure world peace. So, why do prominent figures in the US seem to be leaning towards withdrawal? 

Within the past few weeks, Republican Senator Mike Lee posted on X, writing: “It’s time to leave NATO and the UN.” Elon Musk, an ally of US President Donald Trump and the world’s richest man, responded: “I agree.” While neither Lee or Musk have the direct authority to shape US policy, their ties to those in power (notably Musk) and subsequent informal influence over certain conservative circles has led these seemingly-mundane posts to raise eyebrows across the country when coupled with many of President Trump’s “America-first” statements and policies. 

Last year, President Trump told Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member which failed to meet spending targets – completely disregarding the alliance’s Article 5 that an attack on one is an attack on all. Considering that the only use of this article was for the US following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, it’s clear that President Trump views these international commitments through a more transactional lens, prioritizing immediate financial considerations over the collective security architecture that has defined the West for a significant amount of time. 

These statements reflect the beginning of a fundamental shift in how some American leaders perceive the value and purpose of international organizations, moving away from viewing them as essential frameworks for global stability toward seeing them as an optional framework that should be neglected if immediate benefits to the United States seem to dwindle. 

If this belief is put into practice through economic or political policies, the United States will lose its status as the superpower we’ve always prided ourselves on being. 

From an economic standpoint, fears of a recession have begun rising exponentially as a result of President Trump’s belief in american-based production. With stock prices beginning to dive, uncertainty regarding geopolitics, prices, and increasing hesitation of consumers as tariffs increase costs for U.S. businesses has caused a steady rise of prices in hopes of preserving profit margins. As a result, volatility among investors and business leaders has increased. Investors aside, consumer confidence has declined since the beginning of the second Trump Administration: the University of Michigan’s preliminary index of consumer sentiment, based on surveys conducted since Trump’s inauguration, dropped in February. A post-election rise in small-business confidence was reversed in February, according to Vistage Worldwide. And January 2025 was “the quietest January in a decade for mergers and acquisitions announcements,” according to the Wall Street Journal.  

The US has increased tariffs on Chinese goods from 10% to 20%, while imposing a 25% tax on all Mexican products and most Canadian exports (with energy products facing a reduced 10% tariffed), as per the New York Times. In response, China has implemented a 15% tax on specific US agricultural products subject to a 10% tariff, with Canada countering with a 25% tariff on approximately $30 billion worth of unspecified American goods. As the Times reported, higher prices for the following will soon hit the American public: 

• Mexican avocados, tomatoes, strawberries; 
• Mexican beer and tequila; 
• Canadian meat, grains, maple syrup; 
• Canadian softwood lumber and gypsum (use to make drywall in homes, will affect housing prices) 
• Automobiles 
• Gasoline 
• Chinese consumer electronics (cellphones, computers, video games) 

While many economists are still unsure of the extent to which finances will be impacted, however, increased uncertainty and market volatility along with inflation and lower consumer discretionary spending has already been seen on an upward trend. In short, a recession is not guaranteed, but it’s quite clear that the economy cannot thrive under these conditions. 

From a political perspective, NATO provides the United States with irreplaceable diplomatic leverage and leadership positioning in what scholar Geir Lundestad aptly described as an “empire by invitation.” Unlike Russia, which counts controversial regimes with poor human rights records as allies, the U.S. benefits from relationships with economically robust democracies across Europe and North America. This alliance network extends American influence far beyond military matters, creating profound political advantages that would be severely compromised by withdrawal.

The “transactional” view of international alliances by the Trump Administration fails to recognize how NATO has directly benefited the United States. Afterall, NATO’s Article 5 has only been invoked once – immediately following the 9/11 attacks, when the U.S’s allies rallied to our defense. NATO membership also provides a stabilizing force in Europe, preventing conflicts from escalating to require American intervention, while deterring aggression from Russia, which has attacked non-NATO neighbors but carefully avoided confrontations with alliance members.

The current isolationist impulses, coupled with aggressive trade policies, risk undermining America’s global standing on multiple fronts simultaneously. Just as tariffs are already showing negative economic impacts through market volatility and rising consumer prices, withdrawal from international alliances would similarly diminish America’s diplomatic capital, leaving a vacuum that rival powers would eagerly fill.

Overall, louder calls to shut ourselves out of foreign affairs fundamentally misunderstands how American power operates in the modern world; claiming that the nation’s strength comes from our sole military and economic might would be the equivalent of opening a novel to any chapter and using information from that section alone to write a summary of the book. NATO represents not a mere expensive burden but a strategic investment that has saved money for decades through enhanced security, political stability, and global influence. Abandoning this system would not make America stronger or more prosperous – it would accelerate our decline on the world stage while creating greater instability in regions critical to our national interests. The path forward requires recommitting to the international institutions that have served America well, while working to reform them where necessary, rather than pursuing an isolationism that history has repeatedly shown leads to greater conflict and diminished American power.