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What is an ostrich policy?

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According to legend, ostriches will bury their heads in the sand when confronted with danger, in the hope that if they can't see it it will go away. read more

(Of course, real ostriches don't do this--they wouldn't last long in the wild if they did.) Thus, an ostrich policy is one that ignores a difficult problem, pretending it doesn't exist rather than dealing with it. It's not a common word in American English, at least that I'm familiar with; apparently, it comes from Dutch (struisvogelpolitiek). read more

"Ostrich policy" is a metaphoric expression referring to the tendency to ignore obvious dangers or problems and pretend they don't exist; the expression derives from the supposed habit of ostriches to stick their head in the sand rather than face danger. read more

Isolationism may be adopted in order to devote a country's energies to becoming self-sufficient or addressing domestic problems, or sometimes to contain foreign influence. Many countries have had policies of isolationism at one time, including China, Japan, Albania, Paraguay, and North Korea. read more

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