This journal is modeled on Christianity & Crisis, which Reinhold Niebuhr founded in 1941 to urge American Protestants to aid the Allies against the Axis. Its theme was that neither morality nor national interest justified continued isolation. That self-imposed isolation was military and economic, including neutrality towards foreign conflicts and high tariffs against foreign products. Niebuhr believed America must both engage and lead.
We are at another point in the U. S. story with strategic and economic withdrawal. New high tariffs are unprecedented since the 1930s, Niebuhr’s era. Trade agreements are being abruptly renounced. And the U.S. is pulling back from support for Ukraine and for NATO, possibly from other longtime U.S. allies. Even Canada, our neighbor and longtime traditional friend, an ally in at least five wars, is now tariffed and derided. Denmark, our longtime NATO friend, is threatened with seizure of Greenland. Taiwan is tariffed and mocked, despite its vulnerability to China. Other potential victims of China, such as Vietnam, are tariffed, even though the U.S. has encouraged firms to relocate there from China. Israel is also tariffed. The U.S. may withdraw troops from eastern Europe.
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