Chapter 32: The Reemergence of a Wilsonian President (Part I)

In 1921, the Chinese Communist Party was founded; in 1922, the Soviet Union was established. A century of communism has brought calamity upon humanity—one hundred million dead, victims of man-made communist disasters. America’s contest with communism began with Lenin’s coup in October 1917 and has now lasted more than a hundred years. A century of history proves this: when the United States recognizes its place in the world and assumes the responsibilities of a great power, the world is at peace; when the United States retreats into isolationism, withdraws from international organizations, and stands alone, the world falls into turmoil; when the United States abandons the struggle against totalitarianism, communism runs rampant.

On January 22, 2021, the renowned American think tank RAND Corporation released a report titled Implementing Strategic Retrenchment, arguing that the United States should not intervene over the Diaoyu Islands or Taiwan. Although polls show that 85% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats believe the United States should help defend Taiwan, the report nevertheless claims that even if the CCP were to seize Taiwan, it would not affect U.S. security. It also advocates withdrawing most U.S. forces from around the world. These positions also align with views within the Democratic Party: reducing military spending and redirecting funds to domestic welfare. This has raised concerns—will Biden retreat from global strategy? Will Taiwan’s security be affected?

American isolationism has deep roots. As early as the founding of the nation 240 years ago, George Washington advocated minding one’s own affairs and not interfering in others’. At that time, Washington’s view was correct, because the United States was so poor it did not even have a decent army—how could it afford to care about other countries’ affairs? Thirty years later, when Monroe became president, he proposed the Monroe Doctrine—that the Americas belonged to the Americas and Europe should stay out of Western Hemisphere affairs. By then, the United States had the power to intervene in the Americas, and in foreign policy it had already stepped beyond its borders.

A hundred years later, in the era of Theodore Roosevelt, America’s comprehensive national strength had surpassed that of Britain, making it the world’s leading power. As the global leader, the United States could no longer look only after itself. Roosevelt possessed a forward-looking global vision and intervened in world affairs at the right moment. He mediated the Russo-Japanese War, invited representatives of Japan and Russia to the United States for negotiations, and brought the war to an end. For his role in mediating the conflict, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Subsequently, Roosevelt went to Europe to convene a conference of twelve nations to resolve disputes involving Germany, France, and others, preventing another war. At the end of 1907, Roosevelt also dispatched a powerful fleet of sixteen battleships to circumnavigate the globe for more than a year, demonstrating American strength to uphold world peace and order—especially to deter an ambitious Japan emboldened by the Russo-Japanese War. This display of force restrained Japan’s ambitions and helped preserve peace, preventing reckless naval conflict with the United States. Theodore Roosevelt adapted U.S. policy to America’s growing power and global trends, pushing the United States from the Americas onto the world stage.

In the 1910s, before World War I, the United States again retreated into neutrality, staying out of European affairs. This allowed European tensions to accumulate until war became inevitable. When World War I broke out, it eventually dragged the United States in, forcing it to enter the conflict. President Wilson’s decision for the United States to join the war soon brought it to an end. The Treaty of Paris demonstrated America’s decisive power in world affairs.

With the authority of a global leader, President Wilson personally went to Paris and presided over the peace negotiations for six months. In 1918, he formulated the Fourteen Points for world peace. The most important was the fourteenth point: to prevent future wars, a league of nations should be established to maintain world peace. The Fourteen Points later became the core of the American position at the Paris Peace Conference, culminating in the creation of the League of Nations. Wilson’s proposal won broad international support, and in recognition of his initiative to establish the League, he was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize.

However, isolationist sentiment resurfaced at home. Congress wanted to pull back again, to stop caring about Europe and to stay out of the League of Nations. Tragically, the U.S. Senate refused to ratify America’s entry into the League, depriving it of America’s mediation, balancing, and arbitration power. The United States retreated once more and continued to pursue a neutral foreign policy into the 1930s. As expected, European conflicts intensified. Without American involvement, Europe could not resolve its own problems, and twenty years later another world war erupted. Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Japan’s militarist Bushido formed the Axis of Evil. Only after Japan struck the United States did Roosevelt hastily respond. World War II was extraordinarily brutal, with 400,000 American soldiers killed. In the end, the war with Japan was concluded with the dropping of two atomic bombs.

After World War II, the United States again wished to pull back. But to restrain Japan and Germany, it had no choice but to maintain overseas military forces. History shows that since the Age of Discovery, the world has become interconnected; no country can exist in isolation. Great powers must assume great responsibilities. The leader of the pack must act like a leader. Evading or avoiding confrontation with evil forces invites the punishment of history. God has bestowed upon the United States a moral mission: as the leader, it must lead the world’s two hundred nations forward. The leader must not retreat and allow the flock to scatter and cause chaos. As long as communism still exists, the United States cannot remain unaffected. America must care for the world and serve as the village chief of the global village. A village chief must fulfill the duties of a village chief. Any form of isolationism or semi-isolationism will ultimately harm not only other nations, but the United States itself.

During Trump’s four years in office, isolationism, unilateralism, and “America First” returned under his MAGA (Make America Great Again) policy. He focused only on the United States, disregarded other countries, clashed with the European Union, sought to withdraw troops from Europe, and damaged relationships with allies. Today, although Trump has lost the election, the toxic legacy of MAGA remains.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said that the first task is to “repair the foundations of our democracy,” whether in terms of “democratic institutions themselves” or “racial” and “economic” inequality. This is the first of the four pillars of U.S. policy. He argues that to keep the democratic model—freedom, prosperity, and equality—shining, the United States must work together with democratic allies and partners. Sullivan explains that although the U.S. economy accounts for only about one quarter of the global total, when combined with allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific and Europe, democratic countries together account for more than half of the world economy. “This not only provides stronger balancing power, but also allows democracies to speak with one voice, defend the principles we represent, and better resist the aggressive measures adopted by China.”

If the United States is to confront the CCP, it cannot act alone or in isolation. America must move beyond isolationism and form alliances with the world’s democracies to jointly counter the expansion of communist forces. The current G7 should be expanded to include India, Australia, and South Korea, forming a D10—a group of ten democracies—to jointly confront the CCP, accelerate the collapse of communism, and bring an end to communist evil on the Chinese mainland.

A think tank called New America has proposed a China-focused technology defense strategy known as “small yard, high fence.” Under this approach, the government identifies specific technologies and research areas directly related to U.S. national security (the “small yard”) and erects appropriate strategic boundaries (the “high fence”). For core technologies within the “small yard,” the government should impose tighter and stronger restrictions; for high-tech fields outside the “small yard,” limited reopening to China could be considered. Yet in the face of the CCP’s pervasive, mercury-like technology theft, neither the small yard nor the high fence is sufficient to respond effectively.

America’s anti-communist movement began with President Wilson. After Lenin’s communist October Revolution in Russia in 1917, President Wilson sent U.S. troops to intervene in Russia’s Far East the following year, withdrawing completely only in 1922. Wilson laid the foundation for the Cold War and the containment of communism. Mutual loathing, fear, ideological hostility, and diplomatic isolation between the United States and Russia were all driven by the fundamental opposition between capitalism and communism.

President Wilson warned that “the poison of communism has seeped into the veins of free peoples.” He pointed out that the Russian communists seized power through violence and deceit, and that Bolshevism represented a negation of the United States. Wilson’s profound understanding of the evil of communism became the basis of American policy toward Russia for more than a decade thereafter, and the United States refused to recognize the communist government until 1933.