Discussion Post 2-Policy of Containment in Cold War

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”  Although a true statement; Gaddis’ quote does not address why the Cold War was in fact, so cold.  Clearly, there was a new competition for power after World War II, but given the fervor and zealotry of policy makers during the Cold War; it is safe to assume that there were more than just economic and geopolitical motivations behind the policies of containment.  In fact, many containment policies had a negative economic and geopolitical impact on the United States.The fervor of containment policies, and the duration and severity of the Cold War can be directly attributed to the foibles of the human condition.  This human condition is affected by a number of factors with fear, distrust, and greed placed high a top the list, as these are the conditions that help to create ideologies.  Ideologies are inherently illogical, and therefore, it stands to reason that policies dictated under an ideological influence can also be illogical.  Illogical as they might be, ideologies are incredibly powerful, and following World War II, the capitalist ideology in America (and communist ideology in the Soviet Union) was the inevitable force that swept mutual respect, interests, and common goals out.  Ideologies need fear to survive, and there was no shortage of fear following World War II.  People were conditioned to have an enemy, and not just any enemy, an enemy intent on world domination.  The world was also a more dangerous place than ever with the emergence of Atomic weapons.  With Hitler gone, the fear of an enemy intent on world domination was directed at the Soviet Union.  This fear shaped policy, and the policies exacerbated the fear…it was (and is) the classic snowball effect.  This fear was compounded by the lack of understanding each side had about the cultures, people, and governments of the other.  “George F. Kennan had argued as early as 1946 that the Soviet leadership required the existence of a hostile outside world to justify its own repressive rule; there was nothing the West could do to allay Moscow’s paranoia, he seemed to be saying, because the regime needed external threats to provide internal legitimacy.”  This mentality, which was pervasive at the time, essentially viewed diplomacy as futile, and the possibility of a relationship between the US and USSR as impossible.This mentality became the norm after the death of Roosevelt.  Roosevelt was much less ideological than most people in the US government, including his successor Truman.  Roosevelt saw the tangible motivations behind the Soviet acts that were so negatively view back home.  Although he disagreed with the acts, he did not view them as some organized effort to push a mentality around the world.  For instance, Roosevelt saw the Soviet policies involving Eastern Europe for what it was, not what it might be.  He understood the Soviet desire to have a buffer zone around its borders, and he also understood the Soviet feelings of isolation during World War II when the USSR was taking the brunt of German aggression.  Roosevelt was practical and understood that the USA and the USSR should and could have common ground in war era, after all, he witnessed the two rivals drop old disputes long enough to cooperate against a common enemy.  “Both Russians and Americans tended to view ideology more as a justification for action than as a guide to action; both, as they showed during World War II, were capable of subordinating ideological differences to pursue common interests where those existed. Once those interests disappeared, though, ideology did become the chief means by which each side differentiated friend from foe.” One thing to remember is that President Roosevelt died before atomic weapons were used in war.  This major event raised the stakes for the players in war era.  This new found power had a profound effect on the human condition.  On one hand, was the aura of invincibility, and on the other hand, was the paralyzing fear of total world annihilation should an enemy possess this immense power.  The America monopoly on atomic weapons during the late 1940’s made many policymakers view any diplomatic efforts as showing weakness, and as the sole possessor of atomic/nuclear weapons, we had no weaknesses.  This new found position of strength was accompanied by a new found level of paranoia.This self-inflicted paranoia took on a life of its own, and permeated many aspects of society.  Through this paranoia, the US/Soviet rivalry expanded beyond the realm of a military and geopolitical competition, to a philosophical and moral ideological war.  The following excerpts are from a political journal in 1953 authored by a highly respected academic:  “When we also remember that communism liquidates all capitalists as it takes over a country – by killing some, by terrifying many into exile, and by laws which take away their wealth -it is abundantly plain that private capitalists everywhere must fear and hate communism above all things. Its coming means the end of their world.” “Our civil liberties, when honored, are a mortal threat to communist secret-police rule. Our way of life is a permanent, standing threat and menace to communism.”Littered with generalizations, and absent of documented facts, “official” writings such as this were guiding policymaker’s decisions throughout the Cold War.  Inherent in this writing, is the combination of arrogant strength and inexplicable fear.  This is not dissimilar to Truman’s “iron fist” comment.  It is simultaneously an acknowledgement of our own immeasurable capability, yet at the same time, a strangely fearful admission that the Soviet Union somehow might be able to best us.  This is the paradox of the Cold War.  It is also the reason that so many decisions were made during this timeframe that were economically illogical; with the irony being that in the effort to protect capitalism, capitalistic principles were often ignored, which came at a very high cost.

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