Political Science
Textbooks
Boundless Political Science
Foreign Policy
The History of American Foreign Policy
Political Science Textbooks Boundless Political Science Foreign Policy The History of American Foreign Policy
Political Science Textbooks Boundless Political Science Foreign Policy
Political Science Textbooks Boundless Political Science
Political Science Textbooks
Political Science
Concept Version 10
Created by Boundless

The Cold War and Containment

Truman's Containment policy was the first major policy during the Cold War and used numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad.

Learning Objective

  • Discuss the doctrine of Containment and its role during the Cold War


Key Points

    • Containment was suggested by diplomat George Kennan who eagerly suggested the United States stifle communist influence in Eastern Europe and Asia.
    • One of the ways to accomplish this was by establishing NATO so the Western European nations had a defense against communist influence.
    • After Vietnam and détente, President Jimmy Carter focused less on containment and more on fighting the Cold War by promoting human rights in hot spot countries.

Terms

  • deterrence

    Action taken by states or alliances of nations against equally powerful alliances to prevent hostile action

  • rollback

    A withdrawal of military forces.


Full Text

The Cold War and Containment

Containment was a United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge its communist sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. It represented a middle-ground position between détente and rollback.

The basis of the doctrine was articulated in a 1946 cable by United States diplomat, George F. Kennan (below). As a description of United States foreign policy, the word originated in a report Kennan submitted to the U.S. defense secretary in 1947—a report that was later used in a magazine article.

George F. Kennan

George F. Kennan was the diplomat behind the doctrine of containment.

The word containment is associated most strongly with the policies of United States President Harry Truman (1945–53), including the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense pact. Although President Dwight Eisenhower (1953–61) toyed with the rival doctrine of rollback, he refused to intervene in the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. President Lyndon Johnson (1963–69) cited containment as a justification for his policies in Vietnam. President Richard Nixon (1969–74), working with his top advisor Henry Kissinger, rejected containment in favor of friendly relations with the Soviet Union and China; this détente, or relaxation of tensions, involved expanded trade and cultural contacts.

President Jimmy Carter (1976–81) emphasized human rights rather than anti-communism, but dropped détente and returned to containment when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. President Ronald Reagan (1981–89), denouncing the Soviet state as an "evil empire", escalated the Cold War and promoted rollback in Nicaragua and Afghanistan. Central programs begun under containment, including NATO and nuclear deterrence, remained in effect even after the end of the war.

[ edit ]
Edit this content
Prev Concept
Interventionism
Détente and Human Rights
Next Concept
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.