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Podcasts Take Two
The history, sentiment and feasibility of isolationism
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Jun 27, 2016
Listen • 17:28
The history, sentiment and feasibility of isolationism
Do Brexit and Trump's "America First" sentiments indicate a greater wave of shunning all outsiders and focussing on the issues of the home country?
An arrangement of newspapers pictured in London on June 24, 2016, as an illustration, shows the front page of the London Evening Standard newpaper reporting the resignation of British Prime Minister David Cameron following the result of the UK's vote to leave the EU in the June 23 referendum. Cameron is pictured holding hands with his wife Samantha as they come out from 10 Downing Street. Britain voted to break away from the European Union on June 24, toppling Prime Minister David Cameron and dealing a thunderous blow to the 60-year-old bloc that sent world markets plunging. / AFP / Daniel SORABJI (Photo credit should read DANIEL SORABJI/AFP/Getty Images)
An arrangement of newspapers pictured in London on June 24, 2016, as an illustration, shows the front page of the London Evening Standard newpaper reporting the resignation of British Prime Minister David Cameron following the result of the UK's vote to leave the EU in the June 23 referendum. Cameron is pictured holding hands with his wife Samantha as they come out from 10 Downing Street. Britain voted to break away from the European Union on June 24, toppling Prime Minister David Cameron and dealing a thunderous blow to the 60-year-old bloc that sent world markets plunging. / AFP / Daniel SORABJI (Photo credit should read DANIEL SORABJI/AFP/Getty Images)
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DANIEL SORABJI/AFP/Getty Images
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Do Brexit and Trump's "America First" sentiments indicate a greater wave of shunning all outsiders and focussing on the issues of the home country?

 Since last week's vote for Britain to exit the European Union, many are searching for just what motivated people to chose "LEAVE".

Some say that this decision indicates a growing wave of isolationism - a desire to place a greater focus on the needs of the home country over entanglements with those abroad.

In the U.S., presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has used the phrase "America First" to express his foreign policy platform -- as he put it:

"We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism,"

Is that realistic thinking in today's political framework?

To find out more, Take Two's Libby Denkmann spoke with two guests:

First, Richard Burt. He's a former U.S. Ambassador to Germany and one of several experts who advised Trump's "America First" speech. He'll discuss what Trump was getting at with the phrase of "America First," despite the heavy historical baggage that those words hold

Next, Ian Bremmer, author and the president of the political risk research firm, Eurasia Group.​ He explains whether or not Trump's stated foreign policy is truly indicative of isolationism.

Audio coming soon