Christians and Foreign Policy: Intervention or Isolation?

Is the Christian bound to pacifism and isolationism?

My title and subtitle reveal a large and complex topic. But a few introductory things can be noted here. It was the case for much of recent history that those espousing isolationism, non-interventionism, and pacifism were those of the political left. But recently there have been more of those claiming to be Christians and conservatives who are pushing this as well.

Sure, we had folks like Pat Buchanan (b. 1938) arguing that America had no business getting involved with other countries’ problems and wars, even questioning Churchill and WWII. But increasingly other voices are now being heard promoting this – even more fully and shrilly.

Sadly, many of them are part of the anti-Jew and Israelphobia crowd. The connection is clearly seen when folks like Tucker Carlson regularly brings on guests that he has little happy chats with, offering just kid-glove treatment. These include noxious antisemites and those actually praising Hitler, and saying the US might have been on the wrong side in WWII!

Sadly I know of some of these folks. They used to be known as conservatives and Christians, but they have really become quite bizarre. I have witnessed too many ugly examples of this on the social media. For example, with many Christians rightly calling out the REAL genocide taking place against Christians in places like Nigeria, some of these folks are saying they are not interested in what is happening there, and we should not get involved since it is none of our business!

Imagine folks claiming to be Christians with that reprehensible and dark mindset. These folks think we should just ignore everyone else. Their America-first or Australia-first view is really an America-only or Australia-only stance. And most of them are also quite happy to promote their hatred of Israel.

The bizarre thing is, they think every nation should put itself first – except for Israel! It should just allow itself to be annihilated and every Jew slaughtered. So much for pretending to be Christians. So much for pretending to be conservatives. These folks have become so unhinged with their Jew-hate that they have morphed into secular leftists.

So how are actual Christians and conservatives to think about involvement in various crises around the world? Yes, there is some room to move here, but the command Jesus gave to Christians to love their neighbours as themselves must be a part of the answer.

Obviously the individual is limited, but he can help his neighbour where and when possible. And the state – especially a superpower like America – can have obligations to assist others from time to time. Unlike the modern crop of neo-isolationists, I certainly think America was right to go to the aid of England and Europe 85 years ago. If not, we’d all be speaking German – or Japanese – right now.

But still, matching biblical principles with US foreign policy is not always easy or straightforward. But we must try to think carefully and prayerfully through all of this nonetheless. And there are some useful resources available to help us in this.

One new book I have been discussing of late is In Defense of Christian Patriotism by Daniel Darling (Broadside Books, 2025). My introductory piece on it is found here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2025/10/08/on-christian-patriotism/

And another piece on his views on American exceptionalism is found here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2025/11/21/on-american-exceptionalism/

In that piece I focused on Chapter 5, “The Case for American Exceptionalism. The final pages of that chapter (pp. 133-139) discuss the question, “Does the Bible Command Isolationism or Interventionism.” It is quite incisive and well worth quoting from. Darling begins this way:

A healthy love of country and recognition of our unique blessings can help us shape our politics. . . . Does “to whom much is given, much is required” apply to the United States role in the world?

 

I think it does. But figuring out exactly what this looks like is difficult. We can’t claim that our blessings give us perfect wisdom to solve problems for other people. To be sure, American exceptionalism has, at times, led to hubris when it comes to fighting wars and getting involved in other nations’ disputes….

 

Yet history shows that America doesn’t really have the option to shrink into itself and ignore the rest of the world. We’re involved, whether we want to be or not, and what we don’t do is just as important as what we do. When you have power, there’s no true retreat. Our strength and wealth give us negative freedom – freedom from the world – but they also mean that we are obliged to seek positive freedom, freedom to bless others.

He continues:

As in a family, the United States’ first duty is to her own citizens, but every good family has a responsibility to the neighborhood and community, to do what it can to make it a better place to flourish. Similarly, nations, especially rich, powerful, free ones, can’t afford to ignore the community of nations.

He looks at how the US rightly joined in the fight against not just Japan, but Germany and Italy as well in WWII. He quotes Ronald Reagan who said: “We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We’ve learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent.”

Says Darling:

Today, unfortunately, many political leaders are repeating the same mistakes. We should avoid, of course, becoming involved in foolish entanglements that are not in America’s best interests. We can’t be the world’s policeman. The first duty of our government is, of course, to protect “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” here at home. Still, by virtue of our country’s prosperity, uniqueness, and status as a superpower, our leaders can use their power for good where we can and, more important, communicate that we are on the side of those who yearn for freedom. Given our country’s uniquely Christian roots, given our unprecedented prosperity, can we deny that God has lifted America into a unique role in this world? Unfettered interventionism and absolute isolationism are both sentimental visions of foreign policy, assuming, respectively, that national power can do no wrong, and that national power can avoid doing wrong by doing nothing at all. Both are mistakes.

His closing words are worth quoting at length:

Reagan’s leadership against the Soviets is an example of using our uniqueness and our strength for good. His rhetoric against communism was often criticized, and even today, many historians roll their eyes at Cold War rhetoric. But when he decried the East Bloc’s oppressive system of government as “an evil empire” and when he told the leader of the Soviet Union to “tear down this wall” dividing Berlin, his words were like a balm to many dissidents in Soviet gulags and labor camps. We should not hesitate to use our rhetoric and our might this way today. We should let the impoverished people of North Korea, the student movement in Iran, the Muslim Uyghur in China, and oppressed people everywhere know that the United States of America is firmly on their side.

 

We can do this and take care of our domestic issues as well. In fact, they go together. A strong, prosperous, free United States is a deterrent to evil and aggression around the globe. This is what was meant by Reagan’s doctrine of “peace through strength.” Often, by engaging this way in the world, we can help avoid war and create the conditions for peace. Deterrence is a lot cheaper than war.

 

We have not always gotten this right. We’ve often made grave mistakes. Sobriety, realism, and humility should govern the way Christian Americans think about the world. Yet we can look with pride on the many times when we have used our power for good, from the windswept beaches of Normandy, where a generation of young men gave their lives to help free a continent from tyranny, to our support of the miracle that is the modern state of Israel to nations of Eastern Europe whose citizens no longer live under Communist rule. Not to mention the many times the United States has rushed with aid and resources to places where famine, natural disaster, and war have left people vulnerable and bereft. Or the welcome we’ve often given to refugees from the world’s most dangerous places. These should be seen as sources of pride. They are examples of our extending our blessings outside our borders, of giving back a measure of what has been given to us.

 

Good Christians will, of course, differ on the specifics of foreign policy. We should not be eager to engage in conflict. We should be sober about our limits. Yet, as a steward of God’s blessings on our nation, as inheritors of liberty that previous generations fought and died for, we should work to both preserve what makes us free at home and stand on the side of freedom-loving people everywhere. This is the heart of good stewardship. Again, I think the words of Reagan are true today: “Can we doubt that only a Divine Providence placed this land, this island of freedom, here as a refuge for all those people in the world who yearn to breathe freely.”

Amen to that.

 [1568 words]