The development of United States foreign relations between 1914 and 1945 can be described as that of a turbulent adolescent blossoming; a transition to adulthood. At the start of the three decades, like most teenagers, the United States was focused only on itself and, on rare occasions, looked outside its door to see how the lives of its neighbors and family (in Europe) was affected by the events. a belief that Wilson agrees with United States foreign policy. This can probably be said of any sitting president. When Wilson was elected in 1912, he adopted the foreign policies of his predecessors. This includes the belief that the United States should act as a police force in Latin America, or the Roosevelt Corollary of 1904, which was expanded by Taft to include the promotion of total American domination of the Latin theater (Keene , pages 487-488). Like the teenager, American intervention was only used when something was directly imposed on the United States or its companies. On June 28, 1914, Europe went up in flames as the war spread from Bosnia to every major nation on the European continent. With the many immigrants now living in the United States, it was impossible not to feel some animosity and disagreement within the group over who had started the war. Because of all this unrest and disagreement, President Woodrow Wilson thought it wise to stay out of the war. President Wilson proclaimed the neutrality of the United States. Wilson outlined the policy of preventing American companies from lending funds to any of the countries at war. This ban was lifted by Wilson in 1915, fearing that the United States would enter a major recession if the Allies stopped purchasing American goods when they were short of funds. In order to remain neutral... middle of paper ...... made a large-scale effort to go after al-Qaeda, even though President Clinton was aware of the potential threat they posed. As in World War I, typical Americans wanted to isolate themselves from the world after the first Gulf War. The United States has rarely taken the preemptive initiative to take on a rogue nation. Usually, it is only after that nation launches direct attacks against the United States that the United States intervenes. Unlike events leading up to World War I and World War II, the United States now addresses nations directly or through the United Nations in an effort to avoid conflict. Diplomacy is usually the first thing a U.S. president attempts and the use of force the last. Works Cited Keene, Jennifer D., Saul Cornell, and Edward T. O'Donnell. Visions of America: A History of the United States. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.