Sorry VDH, it's not "fascism", it's just Islam at its core. "Isamic fascism" or "islamofascism" is just Rove-speak. Rather like when Pharma coined the term "erectile-dysfunction"--not used in any medical text--to sell various "love potions". My problme with VDH is his obsession with TR/Wilsonian style "big stick" diplomacy; America's "special place in the world" etc. This will bankrupt and destroy America; empires ALWAYS fall and every nation seduced by the siren of empire has collapsed sooner or later. The smart thing for America to do is revert to a pre-1898 foreign policy and bascially:
1. Tend to it's own knitting regarding foreign affairs; 19th century America did not care if the Ottoman Turks mistreated Greeks or Rumanians, if the Tsar of all the Russias mistreated the Finns or Tartars etcc.
2. Economic autarky should be pursued, although this would entail something Americans have never attempted--an industrial/economic policy. The USA is self-sufficent (or could become self-sufficent) in most items. Execptions being certain trace elements for aerospace and certain gems like diamonds, both easily obtained from nations in Africa in exchange for food. Notice I didn't mention energy in this small list of exceptions. The USA is the Saudi Arabia of coal; the Nazi's quite successfully maintained their vast war machine on petroleum synthesized from coal, no doubt the US could do the same. If, theoretically, every source (ANWR, all offshore areas) were drilled for oil, the US could survive with nary a drop of imported energy. Those crazy kids in Seattle had a point; globalism really is evil, and the outside (i.e OLD world) has been nothing but a source of grief for the New World.
You sound like a Buchananite to me. With respect to 19th century foreign policy you remember the shores of Tripoli? Perhaps you recall our war with Mexico? And speaking of "big stick," the Panama Canal was built on land that belonged to Columbia until we engineered a revolution. While I wouldn't call the policies that led to those engagements Wilsonian, your historical knowledge is sadly lacking. As to autarky - what set of unconstitutional laws are you going to advocate to make that happen? It won't occur any other way.
Economic autarky should be pursued, although this would entail something Americans have never attempted--an industrial/economic policy.
Right. You mean like NK? Ecomomic self sufficiency is one of those really wonderful ideas that exist only inside the ivy covered wall of academia.
I am a great admirer of Hanson and his felicitous writing style, and above all his perspective and sense of historical range, which goes way, way, back. And I think you're accurate in the way you've assessed his mindset as being of the "TR/Wilsonian style.". And I too, have, especially lately dreamed wistfully of retreat, working on becoming self-sufficient economically, and a revised form of isolationalism. But I think the genie has been too long out of the bottle, and there has been too much economic interpenetration globally, too many deals made, too many favors owed,etc. for us EVER to be able to disentangle ourselves. We would have to start in a thousand different places, or work on them one at a time: let's start by looking at all American real estate owned by foreign powers or interests not American, let's look at all American businesses whose manufacturing, assembly or simple phone bank outsourcing exist in other countries, (providing employment there), let's look at the BILLIONS made here by Mexicans that never get invested and re-circulated here, but instead go back to Mexico in the form of remmittances (nearly as much as comes into the mexican economy from PEMEX). By extension, let's examine how the Mexican government , regardless of how their current election winds up getting resolved, might become infinitely more corrupt by having 10 or 20 million less unemployable citizens THERE, but having them work HERE, and continuing to send 30,40,50 billions $$ in remittances back, eventually taking ALL the pressure off the Mexican government and its structures: they have the potential to become corrupt in an entirely new way. The preceding is just off the top of my head, but you get the picture, the genie is out of the bottle, the toothpaste is out of the tube, and the prognosis for isolationism does not look good, no matter how commonsensical it is.