>Isolationism makes no sense in a world as interconnected as we now have. (Not sure it made sense 100 years ago, either, of course.)

For that matter, EU is isolationist. Just try to visit it if you're from a wrong country. Or try to sell something there under the same conditions.

Eleven years ago I applied for belgian visa, to visit my employer's headquarters. It took several months, and by the time I got it, I didn't need it. We couldn't wait and had to develop whatever we could by communicating across the Atlantic.