NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, could it? It's got wheat, cows, soy, rice, wood, coal, natural gas, fish, shellfish, metal, and stuff. Or more specifically:

New England- LOBSTERS+ SHELLFISH
SouthEast- Cotton, tobacco, farms
SouthWest- more farms, fish
Rockies- METAL!!!!! (Mountains= metal source)
MidWest- Wheat, cows
NW- Same as SW
MidWest- Uhh... fish?

(I fail at US geography, so...)

So, could the US survive if it were entirely isolationist?

If the US went isolationist for 25-75 years starting in the 2008-2012 term (ignoring the likelihood of this, as US leaders seem to lack ingenuity/radical thoughts), could it return as a fixed-up, superstrong nation free of energy problems and debt?

Poll incoming.

I say Yes and Maybe. The US has enough resources to stay together as isolationists (although the contry would become more like seperate regional kingdoms or something along those lines), but the country's leaders might not be suave enough to execute the latter.

So, could the US survive if it were entirely isolationist?

If the US went isolationist for 25-75 years starting in the 2008-2012 term (ignoring the likelihood of this, as US leaders seem to lack ingenuity/radical thoughts), could it return as a fixed-up, superstrong nation free of energy problems and debt?

Maybe thirty years ago, but since the advent of Globalisation, there is no such thing as Isolationism anymore (except Norther Korea... and well... that's North Korea :p).

And there's really no such thing as a Superpower anymore anyway.

Maybe thirty years ago, but since the advent of Globalisation, there is no such thing as Isolationism anymore (except Norther Korea... and well... that's North Korea :p).

And there's really no such thing as a Superpower anymore anyway.

I was speaking hypothetically. Let's just say superpowerful beings kept any people from entering/leaving US territory.

No. Food is great, but the US also imports huge amounts of raw materials and goods from overseas, and we export huge amounts to other countries as well. If we went isolationist, our economy would collapse in on itself and we'd get a lot poorer along with everyone else. Nobody would benefit from that one.

Don't forget the number one thing we depend on from overseas: oil. Without oil, our economy grinds to a halt and we can't really do anything. The US only meets 25% of its domestic demand with its own oil production, and we have to import the remaining 75%.

Isolationism is neither achievable nor desirable for anyone involved.

The US couldn't right now. Firstly, despite the extant reserves under the US landmass, America seems to need to import most oil. Americans are too used to fancy foreign goods, even though it would probably be possible to be self-sufficient in most areas.

Also, in terms of military and politics it would require a massive change. Since WWII, the US has worked on a deeply entrenched policy design that requires it to provide defence to all of its allies.

I think the US could survive and even prosper as an isolationist country. However, around the first 20-50 years would be horrible enough that it wouldnt be worth it.

it could I suppose but Americas economy is so connected with the worlds that it would face some serious difficulties.

I would love to see who fills the void though moneys on either E.U or commonwealth

I would love to see who fills the void though

China/Japan

I don't see how it would manage without access to the global economy.

Certainly it would probably prosper from less militaristic foreign intervention, though.

The US couldn't right now. Firstly, despite the extant reserves under the US landmass, America seems to need to import most oil. Americans are too used to fancy foreign goods, even though it would probably be possible to be self-sufficient in most areas.

The main reason is cost. Oil shales and the like are not cheap to produce and require a lot of energy; they're profitable at levels between $60-$100 per barrel, but there's a lot of investment that has to be made to get them out of the ground and refined for consumers. It's a lot cheaper and easier to import oil than it is to try and get it from oil shale; if the price of oil were to skyrocket it would change the situation, but currently it's just too cheap to really encourage major investment in oil shale.

The last time oil companies did it, they got burned badly and lost billions of dollars so they're not keen on trying it again.

China/Japan

doubt it the Commonwealth in particular already has an enormous amount of power across the globe to be honest I doubt even China and Japan could compete with it (though if I had to choose E.U would more likely be the new America because that’s wear a large chunk of the 1st world lies)

China/Japan

Maybe in Japan's wet dreams, but China has a chance. If the whole alliance of China-Russia-Pakistan becomes solid they will undoubtedly become one of the strongest unions the world has ever seen.

doubt it the Commonwealth in particular already has an enormous amount of power across the globe to be honest I doubt even China and Japan could compete with it (though if I had to choose E.U would more likely be the new America because that’s wear a large chunk of the 1st world lies)

The only problem is that the Commonwealth isn't unified enough to provide the same economic clout as a country like China or a economic union like the EU could. Each individual nation is too independent to really project economic power in the same way as China or the EU, so their influence would be more on the level of each individual country rather than as a cohesive body.

doubt it the Commonwealth in particular already has an enormous amount of power across the globe to be honest I doubt even China and Japan could compete with it (though if I had to choose E.U would more likely be the new America because that’s wear a large chunk of the 1st world lies)

OK, then. Try to say why these pairs WOULD and/or WOULDN'T fill the void:

India/Pakistan
Arabia/Iran
Russia/Japan
Japan/EU
Africa/SE Asia
Australia/Japan
Mexico/Guatemala
EU/Russia
Andorra/Luxemborg

No, it relies enormously on foreign oil as fuel and foreign markets for exports. It'd be poorer at the end of it all.

If the whole alliance of China-Russia-Pakistan becomes solid they will undoubtedly become one of the strongest unions the world has ever seen.

unless China and Russia go to war over there borders as they have nearly done multiple time

and to be honest China has no friends except North Korea comes from having imperialist dreams

The only problem is that the Commonwealth isn't unified enough to provide the same economic clout as a country like China or a economic union like the EU could. Each individual nation is too independent to really project economic power in the same way as China or the EU, so their influence would be more on the level of each individual country rather than as a cohesive body.

ah but would the commonwealth need to be cohesive at all it really only needs to step in every now and again to stop country A invading country B why follow Americas aggressive foreign policy at all

OK, then. Try to say why these pairs WOULD and/or WOULDN'T fill the void:
India/Pakistan
Arabia/Iran
Russia/Japan
Japan/EU
Africa/SE Asia
Australia/Japan
Mexico/Guatemala
EU/Russia
Andorra/Luxemborg

1) hasn’t got a chance of happening (also adding Pakistan won't help much at all)

2) why would the Saudis possibly work with the Iranians there religious enemies?

3) Japan is still pissed off with Russia over losing some island in WWII also Russia isn't some super nation it once was

4) why just Japan? (and why a country that cannot act in aggression?)

5-7-9) they would do this how?

6) that would certainly be a regional power but manpower wise its quite depleted

8) Russian corruption spreading will be a threat enough in itself the E.U would never do too good in such an alliance

I really think that the U.S. should go into Isolation, but I don't think that any of our leaders, present or future, would ever begin to follow such a policy. On the question of energy, if we could get our researchers to start looking for more alternative sources (Not sure if there are any real ones though) then we could pull through, other than that, I don't think the U.S. would only survive on energy until it's own oil supply runs out.

Complete isolation is a ridiculous idea – any barrier to the free exchange of goods grossly harms an economy. Were the US to become isolationist and block all trade, there would be a revolution.

The US does have significant resources and produces enough food to feed most of the world. The lack of outside resources would force massive restructuring of society into one focused on conservation and restraint. Given the severe increase in the cost of transportation due to a shortage of oil, more people will migrate away from the coasts to get a better balance of population density. This is so that people have a decent chance of getting food before it rots.

Essentially, were society to return to a more agrarian one, and people to live a more spartan life, isolation would be completely possible – I just don’t think American society is willing to give up their cheap plastic lawn furniture and big house in a sprawling suburb.

If the US started today, it might be able to restructure society to fit a more isolationist way of life in 30 years or so, but nobody is willing to make such sacrifices.

If the US went isolationist for 25-75 years starting in the 2008-2012 term (ignoring the likelihood of this, as US leaders seem to lack ingenuity/radical thoughts), could it return as a fixed-up, superstrong nation free of energy problems and debt?

No. You assume that we have many more resources than we actually have. Most of our aluminum comes from Canada and the tungsten needed to build aircraft and aircraft engines comes from overseas. A good quantity of our fresh vegetables in the winter comes from South and Central America.

If we went isolationist we would lose billions of dollars in commercial aircraft orders and with the problems at Airbus they couldn't meet the world demand for large aircraft. The aviation industry would go into a tail spin and have a huge negative impact on the world economy.

I was speaking hypothetically. Let's just say superpowerful beings kept any people from entering/leaving US territory.

Now you are getting very foolish. :(

Don't forget the number one thing we depend on from overseas: oil. Without oil, our economy grinds to a halt and we can't really do anything. The US only meets 25% of its domestic demand with its own oil production, and we have to import the remaining 75%.

We could drill in Anwar and off the Californaia and Florida coast. That would give us enough oil to survive, but it would take years to build the infrastructure to be able to do that.

We'd have to get rid of California.

We could drill in Anwar and off the Californaia and Florida coast. That would give us enough oil to survive, but it would take years to build the infrastructure to be able to do that.

That's why we should save it for the time when we absolutely need it. That kind of oil will be indispensable when we need it to start building alternatives to oil...it's the ultimate strategic reserve.

That's why we should save it for the time when we absolutely need it. That kind of oil will be indispensable when we need it to start building alternatives to oil...it's the ultimate strategic reserve.

yay strategic reserves!

And we always have coal (to turn into oil (at a cost, but it might be worth it))

With dramatic lifestyle changes maybe...

With dramatic lifestyle changes maybe...

Yeah, and I don't know if "let's all get a lot poorer" would go over too well.

I couldn't survive, we rely too much on stuff from other countries.

Not gonna work. Our economy (and a good many of our large companies) are tied up with other nations. Before WWII, yes, most American companies had very little presence ovrseas, now though...

Energy has already been mentioned, as well as the resources problem (We can feed ourselves, but we'd have to radically alter our diet to deal with our temperate climate).

I guess, at best, you can say that in an emergency, the US could compleately seal itself off and survive, but only after making serious changes to our lifestyle that would probably not go over too well with the people.

Well, it could survive. After all, even North Korea is surviving despite its extreme isolationism. However, America's quality of life would plummet -- we would not longer have access to cheap goods from overseas, nor could we export our goods, and our economy would begin a rapid descent into nothingness. You can't simply ignore globalization in this day and age.

Well, we could survive. We just wouldn't be thriving very well for some time. We would definitly have to make alot of sacrifices. However knowing how driven we are I'm sure we would come up with some things to help our situation better, after ten or so years. I really don't think our economy would spiral into nothingness though.

I wonder what kind of impact it would have on the rest of the world, as well?

No country can survive being isolationist if they want a 1st world economy. Not now, not in the climate of globalisation.

Yes and No. It could probably survive, but to flourish would demand a huge overhaul of how the U.S currently operates. The economy is far to global these days to withdraw with no severe setbacks.

The real question is whether or not I could survive if the U.S went isolationist.

*travels west, begins farming, and grows a long beard*