Albania Bhutan Before 1999,
Bhutan had banned
television and the
Internet in order to preserve its culture, environment, and identity. Eventually,
Jigme Singye Wangchuck lifted the ban on television and the Internet. His son,
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, was elected Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan, which helped forge the
Bhutanese democracy.
Bhutan has subsequently undergone a transition from an
absolute monarchy to a
constitutional monarchy multi-party democracy. The development of
Bhutanese democracy has been marked by the active encouragement and participation of the reigning
Bhutanese monarchs since the 1950s, beginning with legal reforms, and culminating in the enactment of
Bhutan's Constitution.
Tourism in Bhutan was prohibited until 1974. Since then, the country has allowed foreigners to visit, but has tightly controlled tourism in an effort to preserve its natural and cultural heritage. tourists must pay a $200 per day fee on top of other travel expenses such as meals and accommodation. Prior to 2022, visitors were not allowed to travel independently and had to be accompanied by a
tour guide. Bhutan does not maintain formal
foreign relations with any of the five
permanent members of the UN Security Council, notably including
China, its neighbor to the north with which it has a
historically tense relationship.
Cambodia From 1431 to 1863, the
Kingdom of Cambodia enforced an isolationist policy. The policy prohibited foreign contact with most outside countries. When
Pol Pot and the
Khmer Rouge came to power on 17 April 1975 and established
Democratic Kampuchea, the urban population of every city, including
Phnom Penh, was relocated to the countryside. This was ordered by the
Communist Party of Kampuchea and the secret police
Santebal, and they then established an infamous prison gulag inside the torture chamber called
Tuol Sleng (S-21). Cambodia proceeded to implement the
Year Zero policy, hastening isolation from the rest of the world. Ultimately, the authority of the Khmer Rouge and its isolationist policy would collapse in 1978 when the
Vietnamese invaded the country and then overthrew Pol Pot on 7 January 1979.
China After
Zheng He's voyages in the 15th century, the foreign policy of the
Ming dynasty in
China became increasingly isolationist. The
Hongwu Emperor was not the first to propose the policy to ban all maritime shipping in 1390. The
Qing dynasty that came after the Ming dynasty often continued the Ming dynasty's isolationist policies.
Wokou, which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China, Japan, and Korea, and were one of the key primary concerns, although the maritime ban was not without some control. In the winter of 1757, the
Qianlong Emperor declared that—effective the next year—
Guangzhou was to be the only Chinese port permitted to foreign traders, beginning the
Canton System. Since the division of the territory following the
Chinese Civil War in 1949, China is divided into two regimes with the
People's Republic of China solidified control on
mainland China while the existing
Republic of China was confined to the
island of Taiwan as both governments lay claim to each other's sovereignty. While the PRC is recognized by the
United Nations,
European Union, and the majority of the world's states, the ROC remains diplomatically isolated although 15 states recognize it as "China" with some countries maintaining unofficial diplomatic relations through
trade offices.
Japan From 1641 to 1853, the
Tokugawa shogunate of
Japan enforced a policy called
kaikin. The policy prohibited foreign contact with most outside countries. The commonly held idea that Japan was entirely closed, however, is misleading. In fact, Japan maintained limited-scale trade and diplomatic relations with
China,
Korea, and the
Ryukyu Islands, as well as the
Dutch Republic as the only Western trading partner of Japan for much of the period. The culture of Japan developed with limited influence from the outside world and had one of the longest stretches of peace in history. During this period, Japan developed thriving cities, castle towns, increasing commodification of agriculture and domestic trade, wage labor, increasing literacy and concomitant
print culture, laying the groundwork for modernization even as the shogunate itself grew weak.
Korea In 1863,
Emperor Gojong took the throne of the
Joseon Dynasty when he was a child. His father, Regent
Heungseon Daewongun, ruled for him until Gojong reached adulthood. During the mid-1860s he was the main proponent of isolationism and the principal instrument of the persecution of both native and foreign Catholics. Following the
division of the peninsula after independence from
Japan at the
end of World War II,
Kim Il Sung inaugurated an isolationist
nationalist regime in the
North, which would continued by his
son and
grandson following
his death in 1994.
Paraguay In 1814, three years after
it gained its independence on May 14, 1811, Paraguay was taken over by the
dictator José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia. During his rule which lasted from 1814 until his death in 1840, he closed Paraguay's borders and prohibited trade or any relationship between Paraguay and the outside world. The
Spanish settlers who had arrived in Paraguay just before it gained its independence were required to marry old colonists or the native
Guaraní in order to create a single
Paraguayan people. Francia had a particular dislike of foreigners, and any foreigners who attempted to enter the country were not allowed to leave for an indefinite period of time. An independent character, he hated European influences and the
Catholic Church and in order to try to keep foreigners at bay, he turned church courtyards into artillery parks and turned confession boxes into border sentry posts. Robert Art makes his argument in
A Grand Strategy for America (2003). Both sides claim policy prescriptions from
George Washington's Farewell Address as evidence for their argument. Warren F. Kuehl and Gary B. Ostrower argue: Events during and after the Revolution related to the treaty of alliance with France, as well as difficulties arising over the neutrality policy pursued during the French revolutionary wars and the Napoleonic wars, encouraged another perspective. A desire for separateness and unilateral freedom of action merged with national pride and a sense of continental safety to foster the policy of isolation. Although the United States maintained diplomatic relations and economic contacts abroad, it sought to restrict these as narrowly as possible in order to retain its independence. The Department of State continually rejected proposals for joint cooperation, a policy made explicit in the Monroe Doctrine's emphasis on unilateral action. Not until 1863 did an American delegate attend an international conference. ==Criticism==