NationStates Jolt Archive

Im wondering what would happen if the US were to suddenly withdraw all of its forign aid (Economic, social and military) and go isolationist once again.

Of course, the main impact would be the sudden loss of Nintendo products when North Korea nukes Japan. Thats the big blow at which point the world realizes how much it needs us :p

Serious discussion is welcome, though.

Would the isolationism include trade and commerce? If so, the US would collapse. We have over 8 trillion dollars in debt, and a massive budget shortfall that is financed almost entirely by foreign borrowing. Everything would go under, Social Security and Medicare would be memories, and taxes would shoot up. We'd have an economic downturn that'd make the Great Depression look tame,

Wars would flare up because the US no longer would have any presence in the Asian nations, with China on a rampage along with NK and others.

Generally speaking, everything would go to hell.

im willing to bet that america would not function because we dont produce anything anymore

I was thinking mostly in the political sense.
If the world didnt go straight to hell and blow itself up though, we could releive our national debt relativly quickly, considering the two largest areas of the US budget (Welfare and Military, last time I checked). I imagine quite alot of the military budget goes for forign aide-ish stuff, as well as welfare.

If the world didnt go straight to hell and blow itself up though, we could releive our national debt relativly quickly, considering the two largest areas of the US budget (Welfare and Military, last time I checked). I imagine quite alot of the military budget goes for forign aide-ish stuff, as well as welfare.

Not before we would have a serious fiscal crisis. Actually, if we defaulted on the 8 trillion in debt, I think we would need the military, since almost all of the industrialized world would be after us (8 trillion is equal to about 8 Germanys' GDP, or is it Germanies'?)

I was thinking mostly in the political sense.
If the world didnt go straight to hell and blow itself up though, we could releive our national debt relativly quickly, considering the two largest areas of the US budget (Welfare and Military, last time I checked). I imagine quite alot of the military budget goes for forign aide-ish stuff, as well as welfare.

I don't think there's all that much of the foreign aid coming from the Defense budget...unless you count the cost of maintaining the bases on foreign soil. The real foreign aid is budgeted separately. We couldn't cut much out of the military. Isolationism requires a big military to make sure those foreign devils stay on their own side of the fence. And it wouldn't cut welfare at ALL.

I think that the U.S. would suffer a rough depression, but could pull out of it. We have the resources we need, for the most part, to keep ourselves going. Except for oil, but if we were cut off from the Middle East, we'd develop alternatives pretty quickly.

America needs the WORLD and yet it wants the world! can you have both???

Im wondering what would happen if the US were to suddenly withdraw all of its forign aid (Economic, social and military) and go isolationist once again.

Of course, the main impact would be the sudden loss of Nintendo products when North Korea nukes Japan. Thats the big blow at which point the world realizes how much it needs us :p

Serious discussion is welcome, though.

This 'random' thought stinks of un-randomness, I therefore submit to you that this is not in fact a random thought at all, but a pre-meditated discussion.

This 'random' thought stinks of un-randomness, I therefore submit to you that this is not in fact a random thought at all, but a pre-meditated discussion.

Down with the thread!!!

This 'random' thought stinks of un-randomness, I therefore submit to you that this is not in fact a random thought at all, but a pre-meditated discussion.
I thought about it for five minutes before I posted, does that count?

Yes America should withdraw from the world, so what if Korea nukes Japan or China trys to create an empire.
China would fix the mussie problem with out any care for world or UN condemnation.