Kerry decries 'new isolationism', says U.S. acts like poor nation

Secretary of State inveighs against what he sees as a tendency within the U.S. to retreat from the world even as he defended the Obama administration's diplomatic efforts from Syria to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

By Reuters | Feb. 27, 2014 | 8:00 AM

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry decried what he called a "new isolationism" in the United States on Wednesday and suggested that the country was beginning to behave like a poor nation.

Speaking to reporters, Kerry inveighed against what he sees as a tendency within the United States to retreat from the world even as he defended the Obama administration's diplomatic efforts from Syria to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In comments tied to the budget that U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to present on Tuesday, Kerry suggested that tighter spending, in part at the behest of congressional Republicans, may limit U.S. clout around the world.

"There's a new isolationism," Kerry said during a nearly one-hour discussion with a small group of reporters.

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