Kennan 's 'long telegram ' and ideas on Containment are what is thought to have been a major factor in the transition from alliance to Cold War between the Soviets and the US. Below are outlined some of Kennan 's key points on the sources of Soviet Conduct such as Communist ideology and the potential ways for the US to deal with the Soviets, including the idea of 'containment '.
One key point was that it was Kennan 's belief that in order to understand Soviet aims and conduct we must look at the Communist ideologies and beliefs. The Soviets strongly believed that Capitalism was an evil plague that threatened Communist ways of life and needed to be eventually overthrown. They thought of Capitalism as exploiting working class citizens, being inconsistent in its economic and political development and believed that its destruction would be inevitable. Alongside this the Kremlin expected complete discipline from the Communist Party. Because of this, Kennan suggested that any interaction between the West and the Soviets should be treated with extreme caution, considering the over riding goal of the Soviets to make the whole world communist. The US must see the Soviet Union as a rival
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Another factor that Kennan considered was Stalin 's dictatorship and what that meant for Soviet and US interactions. It was detrimental for Stalin, in order to justify his oppressive dictatorship, to stress the danger of abroad capitalism. Because of this, there needed to be an antagonist force of Capitalism. This leads on to Kennan 's idea of containment. Since the Soviets would not respond to negotiation with the west, they instead needed to be dealt with through the process of 'containment ' using antagonism and capability. The initial idea was that in order to monitor Soviet behavior and stop the world domination of Communism, the US had to try to 'contain ' the soviet forces. As long as the US provided a strong opposing counterpart to the Soviets the balance of power would
The United States and its allies were teamed up together to against the Soviet Union. Because a lot of counties realized the threat from the Soviet Union’s action. Therefore, the United States’ policy was strongly against the communist
During 1946, George Kennan had written the famous Long Telegram. This Telegram was one of the most influential pieces of work that was done during the start of the Cold War. At the begging of it, Kennan had focused on explaining the history of how the Soviet Union’s Marxian ideology came to be. Kennan then informed about the policy containment. This policy gives a way for the United States to keep the Soviet Union at bay.
After the cold war happen then came the containment act. Containment was when the Soviet Union and soviet communism shouldn’t be allowed to spread. The policy of containment was to expand the soviet policy an then the American policy was to containment. Both armies were coming from opposite sides of Europe at this time. Both Russians and Americans cut Hitler’s Germany into two pieces.
By highlighting prominent “sins” earlier in his speech, Reagan subtly transfers the association of these sins to the Soviet Union, thereby further driving his attempt to rally the American people. Having progressed on a communistic base for years, the Soviet Union’s drive is to destroy capitalism and replace it with its own ideology- communism (“Cold War”). The Soviets intend to force these ideals upon democratic nations by the production and possession of nuclear missiles, a terrifying prospect to any country. Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union out in this speech; the title alone, “The Evil Empire”, condemns the Soviets as ruthless destroyers of peace and freedom. His words not only influence the American people, but also reach the hearts if the Soviets.
The Cold War was a time when The United States not only secured it’s place as an influencer of international affairs, but explored its new standing as a rival to other world leaders. Immediately following World War 2, The USSR and America’s relationship began to dissolve as fundamental differences in basic beliefs for government and military organization became clear, and without a common enemy to unite the two, tension and conflict would separate the superpowers for almost 45 years. The policy of containment, The Truman Doctrine, and NSC-68 would each play a pivotal role in the Unites States stretching its hand of democracy into foreign lands, and using military force against the regimes that began to stand in freedom’s way. Beginning in 1946, the Policy of Containment was proposed by George Kennan in a document now titled, The Long Telegram. He presented his hopes that the United States would attempt to keep communism and regimes within their current borders.
Imagine if you lived in a place where you had no freedom, and you were ruled by a man like Joseph Stalin. That is what it would be like in many countries if it weren’t for the United States’ policy of containment. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union wanted to take over other countries and make them have the government system of Communism. The United States didn’t like that, because they thought their governmental system of Democracy was better. As a result, the U.S. adopted a policy of “Containment”.
To conclude the argument on the nature of Soviet Union conduct, George F. Kennan sustains that the United States should not expect Soviet policies to reflect the possibility of co-existing capitalism and communism. He believes that the United States can influence internal developments in Russia and the worldwide communist movement. Kennan stresses the responsibility of the United States on the future conduct of the Soviet Union.
He wanted to secure and protect territorial areas that are threatened by communist territories. Most of the time, that included massive retaliation or brinkmanship. Brinkmanship is when they would scare people into doing what we want, and massive retaliation is if someone does something to us, we do something back to them, but bigger than what they did. After Eisenhower, came
If anything, it kept tensions high between the US and the Soviet Union and it questioned who would make the first
Many realized that the Soviet Union was a terrible foe to face, as George Kennan, a respected American diplomat, noticed. He said in “The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” “This means
Lippmann criticizes Kennan when he says, “Mr. X offers us the prospect of maintaining such a coalition indefinite until—eventually—the Soviet power breaks up or mellows because it has been frustrated. It is not a good prospect” (224). Lippmann thinks that it is necessary for the US to intervene or else the Soviet Union’s power will spread. However, Lippmann dislikes the idea of waiting for the Soviet power to diminish. Lippmann emphasizes that Kennan’s plan is too hopeful; Kennan’s proposal calls for the US to have tremendous economic power, the strength to restrain the Soviet Union wherever it intruded, and the patience to wait for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Kennan proposed that the United States aid in the development of democratic countries by giving them economic and political support, military equipment and training, and also waging war against communist regimes if necessary. Rebels would be given support so that they could overthrow the ruling communist governments. Kennan 's ideas were heavily criticized by newspapers, but his idea of blocking the expansion of Soviet influence remained a key interest and main strategy of the United States throughout the Cold War. Containment was first used during the Korean War in which NATO forces intervened and fought off North Korean and Chinese forces from taking over all of Korea and creating a communist government. The Korean War ended
George F. Kennan, a career Foreign Service Officer, formulated the policy of “containment,” the basic United States strategy for fighting the cold war (1947–1989) with the Soviet Union. The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy to stop Soviet imperialism during the Cold War. This is a containment strategy plan that the U.S. used in the Cold War to prevent a communist country, the Soviet Union from spreading Communism by providing either military support, economic and/or technical assistance to noncommunist countries 5. How would you account for the failure of America's effort in the Vietnam
The Presidents of the Cold War What were Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy's ways of dealing with the Cold War? Both Truman and Eisenhower used the policy of containment when dealing with the Cold War. Kennedy used flexible response in the war instead of containment. Containment is to keep things under control (Ayers 819).
"But it is hard to imagine how the U.S. government could have prevented a Communist victory short of getting involved in a massive military intervention, which would have been risky, unpopular, and expensive"(Tindall 964). "The discovery of the Soviet bomb in 1949 triggered an intense reappraisal of the strategic balance of power in the world, causing Truman in 1950 to order the construction of a hydrogen bomb, a weapon far more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, lest the Soviets make one first"(Tindall 964). The onset of the cold war the ideology drove more of the Soviet behavior. "American 's traditional commitment to democtatic capitalism, political self determination, and religious freedom conflicted with the Soviet Union 's preference for spheres of influence on its periphery, totalitarianism at home, and state mandated atheism"(Tindall 970). Kennan stressed that U.S. needed to be responses to the Soviet adventurism.