Policy of Containment After World

Policy of containment after World War II

Explain the development of containment after World War II and the reasons for conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Containment: The doctrine of containment is based on the theory that isolation leads to stagnation. It was adopted by the U.S. As a cornerstone of its foreign policy after the Second World War to contain the spread of Soviet influence outside its borders and prevent the spread of Communism. The architect of the policy was George F. Kennan, an American diplomat who suggested a "long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies" in his famous "X Article" published in 1947. ("Containment," 2006) Containment became a prominent feature of the Truman Doctrine that sought to block the spread of Communism by offering American support for regimes threatened by Communism any where in the world. It was further reinforced by the introduction of the "Marshall Plan" through which the U.S. offered massive economic aid to Europe in order to prevent such economic conditions in which Communism thrives. (Ibid.)

Reasons for Conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union The U.S.S.R. And the U.S. emerged as the two major world powers after WW2, both determined to play a leading role in the international affairs; the fact that the countries represented the opposite spectrums of political ideologies put them on a path of conflict. The Soviets desire to establish their "sphere of influence" in Eastern Europe and disagreement with the U.S. over the fate of Germany was another reason. The U.S. retaliated by issuing the Truman Doctrine in 1947 that authorized U.S. aid to anti-Communist forces in countries threatened by Communists. The Soviet testing of the atomic bomb in 1949 and its tacit approval of a North Korean attack on South Korea that led to the Korean War further soured relations between the two nations. The Vietnam War in which the U.S. intervened militarily to prevent a Communist take-over of the country was another area of conflict between the U.S. And the Soviet Union. (Bell, 2001)