Speaking of platitudes.Yerh and it's been an unmitigated disaster; the west needs to learn to stay out of tribal squabbles in the armpit of nowhere
The world is more inter-connected than ever before, with major trading countries' economic and political relationships spread throughout the world. Due to the speed by which an event "in the armpit of nowhere" can rapidly and directly affect the US or Europe, the desire to just "stay out of tribal squabbles" isn't a realistic option. (Think of disease transmission, use of the internet to spread ideologies / unrest, etc.)
Isolationism (whether it be from an tool like Trump or a wannabe Libertarian like Paul) is not an answer. The answer, frankly, is more and more intelligent involvement & interaction. And this is where this becomes truly hard work: intelligent involvement requires that we have educated & observant people working with other countries and making decisions at home.