The cold war: Abroad

The cold war: Abroad

   I.        The containment strategy :

In 1946, while George F. Kennan was Chargé d’Affaires in Moscow, he sent the now- famous “long telegram” in which he displayed the aggressive nature of Stalin’s foreign policy and asserted that the US should adhere to the so-called containment strategy. This latter was a foreign policy strategy followed by the United States during the Cold War. Containment stated that communism needed to be contained and isolated, or it would spread to neighbouring countries. This spread would allow the Domino Theory to take hold, meaning that if one country fell to communism, then each surrounding country would fall as well, like a row of dominoes. Adherence to Containment and Domino Theory ultimately led to US intervention in Vietnam & Central America.

  II.            The Truman Doctrine

As Britain withdrew from the Greek & Turkish grounds, claiming that it could no longer assist those countries hence, Greece & Turkey became easy targets of the Soviet Union. Consequently, America interfered with military and economic aid in order to prevent those countries from falling into the communist threats.

The Truman speech of 1947 divided the world between two alternative ways of life, One was based on the “will of the majority distinguished by the free institutions” and the other one was on “the will of minority … terror and oppression”

In this speech, he argued that the US must free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities.

Subsequently to the victory of America in Greece, the Truman doctrine became the guiding spirit of American foreign policy.

III.            The Marshall Plan

In 1948, President Harry S. Truman signs the Economic Assistance Act, which authorized the creation of a program that would help the nations of Europe recover and rebuild after the devastation wrought by World War II. Named after U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the Marshall Plan aimed to stabilize Europe economically and politically so that European nations would not be tempted by the appeal of communist parties.

As an upshot to the European recovery program, the western European industrial production & investment increased. It stimulated exports from the US & ended the post second world war recession. Furthermore it reinforced anti-communist politicians in Europe & helped avoid the loss of Europe to socialism & communism.