By contrast, America’s flirtation with colonialism in the Spanish American War, its involvement in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean throughout the twentieth century, and, arguably, World War I, were not watersheds for the US. But America’s inability after the Great War to overcome Old World politics at Versailles and isolationism at home marked a failed opportunity to promote a positive watershed.
相反，美西战争时期一时兴起的殖民主义、20世纪在墨西哥、中美洲和加勒比地区的介入，以及第一次世界大战（该事件颇可商榷）对美国来说并非分水岭。但美国在一战之后的凡尔赛会议中未能压倒旧世界政治以及国内出现的孤立主义均属于坐失积极分水岭良机的例子。