The evolution of foreign relations of the United States between 1914 and 1945 can be described as a turbulent adolescent coming into her own; an older age. In the early parts of the three decades, like most teenagers, the United States was focused solely on itself and on rare occasions looked out its own door to see how the lives of its neighbors and family (Europe) were being affected by events . a belief that so goes Wilson, so goes US foreign policy. This can probably be said of any sitting president. When Wilson was elected in 1912, he adopted the foreign policy example of his predecessors. This includes the belief that the United States should act as a police force in Latin America, or the 1904 Roosevelt Corollary, which was expanded by Taft to include the push for total American dominance in the Latin theater (Keene, pages 487- 488). Like the teenager, American intervention was used only when something directly imposed itself on the United States or its enterprises. On June 28, 1914, Europe erupted 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 have animosity and disagreement within the group over who started the war. As a result of all this turmoil and disagreement, President Woodrow Wilson thought it wise to stay out of the war. President Wilson proclaimed the neutrality of the United States. Wilson established policy to prevent American businesses from lending funds to any nation at war. This ban was lifted by Wilson in 1915 out of fear that the United States would enter a severe recession if the Allies stopped purchasing American goods when they ran out of funds. To remain neutral… mid-paper… they made a large-scale effort to hunt down al-Qaeda, even though President Clinton knew of the potential threat they posed. Like World War I, typical Americans wanted to isolate themselves from the world after the First Gulf War. Rarely has the United States taken the preemptive initiative and persecuted a rogue nation. Usually, only after that nation carries out direct attacks against the United States does the United States intervene. In contrast to the events leading up to World Wars I and II, the United States now approaches nations directly or through the United Nations in an effort to avoid conflict. Diplomacy is typically 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, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.