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    Containment Strategies PDF

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    Aymen Loueti

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    Containment Strategies PDF

    Uploaded by

    Aymen Loueti
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    3 views2 pages

    Containment Strategies PDF

    Uploaded by

    Aymen Loueti

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 2

    Unit 3: Cold War policies: Containment strategies

    I. George Kennan’s Long Telegram (1945):


    George Kennan’s is a U.S diplomat who presented the first step towards the creation of the
    containment strategy, which is his long telegram in order to persuade the Americans that there
    is a soviet threat. He argued that the soviets are inherently afraid of the west. They are
    insecure because they have on their borders a western society that is more powerful, more
    developed and more competent. This fear is the reason why the Soviet Union is not happy
    with its own geographical borders and that it is moving forward not in a self-defensive way
    but because the United States is considered as a threat to it and the Soviets want to eliminate
    it. To conclude we could say that George Kennan focused on three main ideas in his long
    telegram: Identifying the soviet threat, amplifying it (exaggerated), and paving the path for the
    containment strategy.
    II. The Truman Doctrine (1947):
    A. Aid for Greece and Turkey ($400 million):
    The Truman Doctrine aimed to provide economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey to
    prevent them from falling under Soviet influence. The U.S. provided substantial financial
    assistance to help these countries resist communist insurgencies.
    B. Manichean Worldview:
    The Truman Doctrine reflected a Manichean worldview, which divided the world into two
    opposing powers: the free, democratic West led by the United States, and the totalitarian,
    communist East led by the Soviet Union. It portrayed the struggle between these two
    ideologies as a global conflict where the United States needed to actively contain the spread of
    communism.
    C. Self-deterioration:
    Truman argued that allowing communist expansion would lead to the self-deterioration of
    nations, both economically and politically. He believed that by supporting countries threatened
    by communism, the U.S. could prevent the spread of the Soviet Union and preserve global
    stability.
    D. Support Against External Forces:
    The Truman Doctrine pledged support to nations facing external threats, particularly from
    communist expansionism. It marked America's commitment to provide assistance to countries
    struggling to maintain their sovereignty and resist communist aggression.

    III. The Marshal Plan (1947):


    The Marshal Plan was an economic and financial extension to the Truman Doctrine consisted
    on helping the western European countries (13 billion dollars) in order to build their
    economies, adopt democracy and capitalism and support economic integration.
    IV. NSC-68 (1950):
    The National Security Council (NSC-68) is the most influential institution in terms of foreign
    policy, outlining the United States' response to the growing threat of communism during the
    Cold War. It emphasized the need for a significant increase in defense spending, reflecting the
    militarization of containment. This led to a substantial rise in defense expenditure from $13
    billion in 1950 to $60 billion in 1951, highlighting the nation's commitment to countering the
    spread of communism globally.

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