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Comment by masswerk | Hacker News Reader

However, the US has about entirely lost their status as a model. As-is, following US legislation would require some amount of apologetic discourse anywhere outside of North America. (That the US have left the international community for the most, or, at least, have proposed to do so – especially, when it comes to treaties and jurisdiction – doesn't especially help either.)

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I tend to think of the US isolationist stance as a temporary consequence of their loss of total control. Like pouty child who would prefer to pass entirely on cake than to have to share it with their siblings. The frustration to not have the final say anymore is real but reality has purchase and in the end I expect the US to sit at the conference table like everyone else. After all, with it's still mighty power, it's in a good position to negociate.

Now I might be wrong, maybe the isolasionist mentality is more profound than that. An historical argument to show how this is stance is not new is the refusal for the US to enter WWII until Japan basically forced their hand on the issue.

The US stumbled into becoming a model only due to the behavior of European nations constantly fighting each other every century.

Especially post Vietnam, it should never have been regarded as the model, humanity needs competing systems to better allocate risk.

On the other hand, it was exactly this loss of power, which allowed European states to overcome their long-lasting contest and to unite… Realistically, immediate post-Vietnam would have been too soon for this.

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