Discuss the changing nature of American military capabilities, including the effect of the isolationist tendencies of early American policymakers. Provide examples

What will be an ideal response?

The ideal answer should:
a. Define isolationism as a doctrine holding that states should minimize their involvement in foreign affairs and instead focus on domestic matters.
b. Demonstrate how isolationism was the dominant philosophy in the early days of the Republic, drawing on Washington's Farewell Address and the Monroe Doctrine.
c. Explain how the dependence on geographic isolation was fundamentally changed by the rapid development of naval power, noting the influence of the book by Alfred Mahan on the development of the US Navy and the US involvement in the Spanish?American War.
d. Discuss how changing demographics and economic capabilities coupled with the lesson of the total annihilation strategy of the Civil War combined to make the United States capable of mobilizing a dominating military force.
e. Assess how World War II fundamentally transformed military capabilities,leading the United States to abandon isolationist tendencies in favor of global engagement, including the development of nuclear weapons, the Cold War conflict with the Soviet Union, and the ongoing large expenditures on military weapons.