Beyond ‘isolationism’ and ‘internationalism’

THE US Senate overwhelmingly approved last Thursday (May 19) a US$40 billion emergency military and humanitarian aid package to Ukraine, bringing to around US$54 billion the total American spending on the war. That amounted to the largest foreign aid package passed by Congress since the end of the Cold War.

The vote reflected a remarkable bi-partisan support on Capitol Hill for what is expected to be a long and costly struggle against the Russian invasion. It took place following a trip that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican Senators made to Ukraine to express support for its beleaguered president Volodymyr Zelensky, with only a small group of lawmakers opposing the American assistance to Ukraine’s war effort.

But that the 11 Senators who voted against the aid package were all Republicans, and that 57 Republicans were the only members who opposed the spending package when it came up for voting in the House of Representatives two weeks ago, was seen by some as a reflection of rising isolationist tendencies in the GOP, the concern being that that could gain momentum as the war goes on.