The United States Containment Policy

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The United States Containment Policy

The rise of the Soviet Union and spread of communism was considered a serious threat to

the global dominance of the United States. Soviet Union’s efforts to enlarge its communist

sphere of influence in China, Vietnam, Eastern Europe, and Korea caused intensified fear in

America that aimed to implement policies to counter the spread of communism abroad. Although

the policy was successful in combating the spread communism, it was criticized for being

controversial and escalating the Cold War between the two superpowers with some leaders such

as Richard Nixon advocating for friendlier foreign policy détente.

Containment policy was formulated in 1947 by George F. Kennan, a United States

diplomat who advocated for a firm and vigilant containment of the Russian expansive

tendencies, which were considered as a threat to the western world (Pieper n.p).The primary goal

of the policy was, therefore, to prevent expansion of the Soviet Union in the three world’s largest

industrial centers, namely the Western Europe, Japan, and the United States. TheUnited States

devised military and other strategies to help liberate countries from the communist influence.

Supporters of the policy believed that by spearheading economic and military support to

countries fighting communist dominance, America would eventually break the Soviet Power

resulting in the fall of communism.

Kennan’s ideas became the basis for the American foreign policy during the reign of

Harry Truman as the president of the United States in 1945 to 1953 (Pieper n.p). Truman was a

great supporter of Kennan’s ideas on American policies against Russia and its allies, and thus,

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hisforeign policy was focused on preventing the Soviet Union to spread the influence through the

application of counter-force and measures against communism such as military actions and

economic pressures. As a result, America embarked on providing economic and military aid to

the world countries that faced the threat of being dominated by the Soviet Union.

The policy of contain greatly influenced the internal affairs of American government

under various regimes. Besides being a foreign policy, containment policy had a significant

impact on the domestic affairs of the American government. For instance, in I950, Truman

spearheaded the drastic expansion of the United States military budget in order to extend the

scope of containment beyond the protection of the major industrial centers (Wilson 290). Even

future American presidents, Johnson, for example, relied on the policy to authorize unwarranted

expenditure on military and economic activities, such as one billion dollar development program

on Mekong River in Vietnam. Thus, many US presidents relied on the policy to push their

agenda in the congress for both local and foreign projects during the cold war.

The application of the containment policy was disastrous as it caused military aggression

that resulted in war. For example, the policy of contamination was the leading factor to the break

out of Vietnam War in 1965 (Wilson 237). After the close of the 1954 Geneva Conference,

Vietnam split into two rival groups, namely the government and the Vietnam communists who

advocated a unified Vietnam under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh (Alonso n.p). Fearing that

communist would take over Vietnam, the United States began a military strategy to help the

government of the country to suppress the rebellion. In 1964, the President of the United States,

Lyndon Johnson, initiated a congressional resolution to allow full participation of America in the

Vietnam War against the Vietnam communists citing containment policy as the justification for

America’s involvement in the war. During the war, over 68,000 Americans lost their lives, which

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led to President Johnson withdrawal from the presidential race to seek peace. The policy of

containment was, therefore, a dangerous policy that created a conducive environment for the

aggressive war.

During the middle of the Cold War, the policy was criticized from squatters for escalating

this conflict. Paul Nitze strongly criticized the policy, who was a Kennan’s successor in

advocating for the rollback policy against the Soviet Union. Nitze saw Russian threat as a

military one that required a counter military force (Pieper n.p). In his opinion, a military action

against Russia and its allies would completely liberate the Western world as opposed to the kind

of psychological war propagated by Kennan. Both Truman and Johnson successfully applied the

policies in their administration as presidents of America.

Containment policy was blamed for the Cuban missile crisis that almost resulted in a

fierce nuclear war between Russia and America (Wilson 312). In 1962, the United

Statesdeployed Ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey and Russia, in turn, responded to such

actions by installing its missiles in Cuba. The confrontation nearly resulted in a nuclear conflict

between the two powers causing great fear of an outbreak of another World War. During this

period, containment policy was highly criticized and blamed for the strained relations between

the two superpowers. The threat of war encouraged both countries to reconsider their foreign

policies and their impact on the world peace.

Cuban missile crisis saw America embrace the policy of détente that encouraged friendly

relations with Russia in order prevent a breakout of war. The United States Presidents Richard

Nixon and Gerald Ford abandoned the containment policy and called for an easing of the

geopolitical tensions between America and Russia. After a series of negotiations, the two

superpowers signed some treaties aimed at achieving peace and preventing the occurrence of

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another World War. The two nations agreed to foster friendly relations by installing a direct

hotline between Washington D.C and Moscow to enable the leaders of both countries to

communicate quickly in times of urgency and reduce future confrontations (Wilson 320).

Détente was, therefore, viewed by many a better alternative for the foreign policy compared to

the containment one since it encouraged peaceful coexistence of the two rival powers.

The growing need for more friendly policies that reduced direct confrontation of the

United States and Russia saw reduced application of the policy during the reign of Richard

Nixon. (Pieper n.p). For example, although President Richard Nixon condemned the invasion of

Hungary by the Soviet Union forces during Hungarian revolution, he was reluctant to initiate

western military intervention. As a result, America kept a distance from the conflict as Russia

and its communist allies battled for the control of Hungary.

Just like communism and capitalism were global threats, terrorism also raises

international concern. The uniting of countries against a common foreign enemy is also being

witnessed in the war against terrorism with countries coming together in a combined effort to

handle the menace at a global level. For instance, the foreign policy of the United Stateson

terrorism has led to the deployment of the involvement of Americain the countries such as

Somalia and Kenya in the war against terrorism.

In conclusion, containment policy was a policy design to counter Soviet Union expansion

and the spread of communism which threatened Western dominance in global affairs. The

application of the policy escalated the Cold War between the two world superpowers and almost

resulted into a nuclear war between America and the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile

crisis. Although it succeeded in fighting communism, the opponents of the policy argued it was

too defensive and aggressive and was to blame for the strained relations between the United

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States and the Soviet Union. The unity of countries against a common enemy as was the case in

cold war has also been embraced in the war against terrorism. To date, America has many

foreign policies designed to help countries facing terrorist threats.

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Works Cited

Wilson, Robert.Ways of the World: A Brief History. Bedford: St.Martinns, 2012.

Alonso, Nathalie. The Threat of Communism during Cold war. 2016. Web. 16 Nov. 2016

<http://classroom.synonym.com/threat-communism-during-cold-war-23645.html>.

Pieper, Moritz. Containment and the Cold War: Reexamining the Doctrine of Containment as

a Grad Strategy Driving US Cold War Interventions. 2012 Web. 16 Nov. 2016

<http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/672/containment-and-the-cold-war-reexaming-the-doctrine-of-

containment-as-a-grand-strategy-driving-us-cold-war-interventions>.

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