US presidential candidates' isolationist stance sends out dangerous message

THE leading US presidential candidates, both Republican and Democratic, are driving the US into a shell of global isolationism and protectionism - even at the risk of the US losing its hard-won strategic space abroad to rival powers. On the Republican side, real estate tycoon Donald Trump wants US allies in Europe and Asia to shoulder the entire financial burden of their own defence, which is being interpreted as an abandonment of its allies. Senator Ted Cruz wishes to strike a middle path between intervention and isolation. And governor John Kasich is less keen on intervention than the conservatives in his party.

On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders has embraced isolationism by arguing that the US should not be a global policeman. Although former secretary of state Hillary Clinton calls for the US to play a dominant role, she has recently begun opposing free trade.

Mr Trump, in particular, seems unconcerned that US disengagement from the wider world will upset global stability and prosperity as rival challengers will emerge in places the US has retreated from.