Chapter 18 and 19 Kissinger Study Guide: Containment and Cold War Dynamics

Emerging Post-War World Order

The chapter highlights the emerging struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, perceived as a contest between good and evil.

Spheres of Influence

Developing political territories with Western Europe consolidating under U.S. leadership and Eastern Europe under Soviet dominance through coercion.

Soviet Union's Strategy

The Soviet Union actively tried to undermine Western consolidation through supporting guerrilla wars and encouraging communist movements.

Containment Policy

American leaders recognized the need to resist Soviet expansion, based on a balance of power rather than ideological opposition.

Four Policemen World Order

An idea envisioned by Roosevelt that proved unworkable due to Soviet intransigence.

Long Telegram

George Kennan's framework for understanding Soviet foreign policy, arguing that the sources of Soviet expansion lay within its own system.

Kennan's Analysis

Suggested that Soviet expansion should be contained.

Long Struggle

The United States had to accept a long struggle with the Soviet Union because their goals were irreconcilable.

Matthews Memorandum

Translated Kennan's ideas into operational foreign policy, suggesting that the Soviet Union was an endemic feature.

Use of Force Limitation

The memorandum limited the use of force to areas where Soviet armies can be countered defensively by U.S. naval, amphibious, and air power.

At-Risk Areas

Identified areas such as Finland, Scandinavia, Eastern and Central Europe, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Manchuria.

Overestimation of Great Britain

The memorandum noted that the US was overestimating Great Britain's ability to be a balancer.

Clark Clifford's Argument

Argued that the Kremlin's policies could only be reversed by countering Soviet power, focusing on areas vital to US security.

Primary Threat

Clifford emphasized that the primary threat was a Soviet attack on the U.S. or on areas vital to US security, defined as military power.

Global American Security System

Clifford's framework became the foundation encompassing all democratic countries menaced by the U.S.S.R.

Conflict Portrayal

The conflict was portrayed as a struggle against the shortcomings of Soviet leadership rather than just a clash of national interests.

Goal of Containment

The goal was not just to balance power but to transform Soviet society.

Fair and Equitable Settlement

The U.S. aimed to achieve this with the Soviets when it was too strong to be frightened by Soviet power.

Soviet Control of the Balkans

The Soviet Union had control of the Balkans and was supporting a guerrilla war in Greece.

Truman Doctrine

Emerging from a meeting in February 1947, where Truman sought Congressional support for aid to Greece and Turkey.

Dean Acheson's Presentation

Presented the situation as a global struggle between democracy and dictatorship, defining two ways of life.

Aid to Freedom

The U.S. would provide aid to countries trying to maintain their freedom.

Departure from Traditional Geopolitics

The Truman Doctrine was a watershed moment, departing from traditional geopolitical thinking.

Criticism of Truman Doctrine

Criticism arose as it was viewed as defending countries not vital to American security and creating debates about American purposes.

The Marshall Plan

Launched at a commencement address at Harvard, aiming to provide aid to Europe to eradicate the economic and social conditions that led to the war and to promote institutions that allow for freedom.

Soviet rejection of the Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan was offered to all countries, including those in the Soviet sphere, but the Soviets quickly rejected it.

Cold War

Defined as a struggle to ensure the success of democracy in a world free of Soviet domination.

Kennan's 'X' article

Became a key text for understanding and implementing containment.

Soviet system expansion

Kennan argued that tension with the outside world was inherent to the Soviet system, which was geared toward expansion.

Goal of Soviet policy

To fill every nook and cranny available to it in the world.

Firm containment

The way to defeat the Soviet strategy was a policy of 'firm containment' that would confront Soviet expansion at every point.

Transformation of the Soviet system

Kennan's concept of the Soviet system being transformed by either a power struggle or a change in the system was not seen as an immediate possibility.

American acceptance of Cold War rules

American people had to accept the rules of the Cold War, which involved strengthening countries on the dividing line and using diplomacy to avoid war.

Goal of containment

Stability, thought to come only after evil was excised from the Soviet Union.

Lessons from the New Deal and WWII

Threats to political stability could arise from economic and social conditions, and the best protection against aggression was overwhelming power and the willingness to use it.

Formation of NATO

Created in response to the Czech coup in 1948 and was the first peacetime military alliance in American history.

Czech coup impact

The Czech coup and other similar events were seen as a straw that could break the democracies of Europe, and that Soviet military power would be used to prop up communist governments.

NATO's purpose

Provided a way for the US to tie itself to a defense of Western Europe.

NATO as a military alliance

A result of a growing confrontation between two military alliances and two spheres of influence.

Balance of principle

The formation of NATO was not a traditional alliance but rather an effort to strengthen the 'balance of principle.'

NATO's design

The State Department document, 'Difference Between the North Atlantic Treaty and Traditional Military Alliances' claimed that NATO was designed to resist aggression.

NATO's definition

NATO did not define itself as an alliance against a specific country.

Atlantic Alliance

Presented as representing a moral universality, acting to maintain peace and security.

Atlantic Alliance stance

Against armed attack.

US action until UN intervention

The United States had to act until the UN could act to restore peace and security.

Dean Acheson's belief

Understood the requirements of the balance of power, believing that Europe could not be left to its own devices, and that American leadership was necessary.

Federal Republic of Germany

Created by the merging of the American, British, and French zones of occupation in Germany.

Challenge of the Federal Republic

This new state was a challenge to the Soviet presence in Central Europe and a threat to break diplomatic relations with any country that did not recognize it.

American leadership characteristics

Characterized by appeals to fundamental values and a focus on comprehensive solutions.

Containment policy purpose

Meant to ensure the triumph of democracy.

NSC-68

A document that defined American national interests in moral terms.

Free institutions argument

The document argued that free institutions were necessary and that their destruction would be a greater loss than a material loss.

Goal of American policy

To foster a fundamental change in the nature of the Soviet system.

America's aim

To create an international environment in which free institutions can flourish.

NSC-68

Stated that the United States would use a wide range of resources to support its policies, with military and economic resources being vital.

Settlement based on spheres of influence

The goal of the containment policy.

Walter Lippmann's critique

Criticized the containment policy for being too focused on ideological and geopolitical overextension, which would drain American resources.

Speculative nature of containment

Lippmann argued that the containment policy was too speculative.

US involvement in Soviet periphery

Lippmann's critique that containment would draw the US into the Soviet's extended periphery.

Criteria for countering Soviet expansion

Lippmann stressed the importance of setting criteria to define the areas where the US would counter Soviet expansion.

Heterogeneous array

Without criteria, the US would be forced to organize a 'heterogeneous array of satellites, clients, dependents, and puppets,' which could lead to 'appeasement and defeat and the loss of face, or support [them] at incalculable cost.'

Lippmann's following

Lippmann's arguments had a substantial following among the opponents of confrontation with the Soviet Union.

American foreign policy focus

Lippmann thought that American foreign policy should be driven by the defense of American interests, especially the balance of power in Europe.

Evacuation of Europe

Lippmann was for the evacuation of Europe by Soviet power and to use diplomatic pressure to ensure withdrawal.

Winston Churchill's argument

Argued that the West's bargaining position would never be better than it was at that moment.

Negotiated settlement with Soviets

Churchill wanted to reach a negotiated settlement with the Soviets.

Churchill's support of containment

Supported containment to a point but wanted to reshape history rather than passively wait for the collapse of communism.

Atomic weapons negotiation warning

Churchill warned against waiting to negotiate until the Soviet Union had atomic weapons.

Settlement acknowledging spheres of influence

Churchill wanted a settlement with the Soviets that acknowledged spheres of influence.

Disagreement between Churchill and American leaders

Came down to how to approach the Soviet Union: should there be a total victory or a Wilsonian solution.

Churchill's approach

Was to use active diplomacy that combined strength.

American approach to victory

Was to have successive phases to victory like in WWII.

Henry Wallace's disagreement

Disagreed with the Truman Doctrine because he believed that it was based on Machiavellian principles of deceit, force, and distrust.

Root causes of international conflict

Wallace believed the root causes of international conflict was fear and that the US should not get involved in conflicts that did not have a moral imperative.

Soviet expansionism

Wallace thought that Soviet expansionism was not the driver behind the conflict.

Moral equivalence

Wallace thought there was a moral equivalence between American and Soviet actions.

Socializing Soviet sphere of influence

Wallace believed the US should not try to socialize the Soviet Union's sphere of influence.

Wallace's challenge to foreign policy

Challenged American foreign policy for its inadequacies.

Moral convictions of American isolationism

Many of the moral convictions of American isolationism had resurfaced in the Wallace movement.

Permanent peacetime international involvement

The containment policy led to a 'permanent peacetime international involvement.'

Containment and American exceptionalism

Containment was a product of American idealism and a belief in its unique role in the world.

Extraordinary theory of containment

Containment was seen as an extraordinary theory that was both idealistic and realistic, but also assumed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Post-WWII spheres of influence

Spheres of influence begin to emerge with Western occupation zones in Europe consolidated under United States leadership.

Kremlin's disruption attempts

The Kremlin attempted to disrupt Western consolidation by fostering guerrilla war and encouraging mass demonstrations by West European Communist parties.

Need to resist Soviet expansion

American leaders recognize the need to resist Soviet expansion, moving away from the traditional balance of power.

Roosevelt's vision of the 'Four Policemen'

American leaders begin to understand that Roosevelt's vision of the 'Four Policemen' cannot be implemented.

Questions about Stalin's intentions

Questions arise in the American policymaking circles about how to interpret Stalin's intentions, with some suggesting that the Soviets feel threatened.

Kennan's Observations

Philosophical insights that were translated into operational foreign policy by the State Department in 1946.

Matthews Memorandum

A 1946 document arguing that the US should defend every threatened area around the Soviet periphery and use force only where US and allied power can be effectively applied.

Soviet Expansion

The attempt by the Soviet Union to extend its influence and control over other countries, identified as a threat by US foreign policy.

Truman Doctrine

Announced on March 12, 1947, it framed the Cold War as a struggle between democracy and dictatorship, committing the US to assist free peoples resisting subjugation.

Marshall Plan

Announced on June 5, 1947, it aimed to eradicate economic conditions leading to turmoil in Europe and restore European institutions, open to countries in the Soviet orbit.

Long Telegram

An article by George Kennan that argued Soviet intransigence was inherent in the Soviet system and became a key document for the containment policy.

Pact of Brussels

Formed in April 1948, it was a defensive pact among several Western European countries designed to repel attempts to topple democratic governments.

NATO

Created in 1949, it was the first peacetime military alliance in American history, tying America to the defense of Western Europe.

Federal Republic of Germany

Post-WWII, it presented a challenge to the Soviet presence in Central Europe.

George Kennan

A junior diplomat who provided the conceptual framework for interpreting Stalin's foreign policy; his 'Long Telegram' was key for containment policy.

H. Freeman Matthews

A State Department official who drafted a memorandum translating Kennan's ideas into operational foreign policy emphasizing resistance to Soviet expansion.

President Truman

Announced the Truman Doctrine, framing the Cold War as a struggle between democracy and dictatorship.

Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union whose expansionist intentions were debated by American policymakers.