From the perspective of having lived through the first Cold War to the second, I have come to question the wisdom of the anti-Soviet "containment" policy of George F. Kennan, which he promulgated as early as 1946 in the "Long Telegram". What was needed was a policy that allayed Soviet fears of the west as well as containment. The USSR with good reasons in history created a buffer of friendly states on its border with eastern Europe. Stalin was a brutal leader and was threatened by USA's imperialism It had suffered three invasions across it, beginning with the one by Napoleon in 1812. Additionally, it was invaded by Great Britain and France in 1856, the Crimean War, because they feared Christian Russia more than Muslim Turkey. They did not want Russian influence on the path to India through the Middle East. Fear of Russia has been the driver of much bloodshed and allowed the growth of NAZI Germany before the rude awakening of 1938 at Munich. The UK, under Winston Churchill, feared Russia and conveyed that fear to the USA by his speech at Fulton, Missouri in March, 1946, not long after Kennan's Telegram in February. These began the first Cold War, I believe. In this context, it should be recalled that the Bretton Woods Conference, that created the IMF and the World Bank, had concluded in July 1944. It was clearly the financial foundation for financial control of Europe. The USSR must have seen it as the monetary means for USA's postwar imperial ambitions, of which Russia did not wish to become a part. The nature of the IMF and World Bank became apparent, especially in Latin America, where its loans were contingent on their production of non-competive agriculture, not competitive with USA's agriculture. They could not produce food for their own people. The behavior of the USA as a militarized empire since the end of WW2, must be viewed also as Russia saw it in order to understand the first Cold War. The policy of "containment" surely generated the Soviet response, just as the expansion of NATO since 1999 has led to the US/Russo Proxy War in Ukraine as part of the second Cold War. What was needed at the end of WW2, just as in 2022, was the inclusion of Russia as part of a European security system, as Vladimir Putin demanded. Instead, on both occasions, Russia was confronted only with military force, NATO.
Very interesting and helpful, thank you for posting.
Instablaster.
CFR should identify its interviewer. Is it William Taubman?
From the perspective of having lived through the first Cold War to the second, I have come to question the wisdom of the anti-Soviet "containment" policy of George F. Kennan, which he promulgated as early as 1946 in the "Long Telegram". What was needed was a policy that allayed Soviet fears of the west as well as containment. The USSR with good reasons in history created a buffer of friendly states on its border with eastern Europe. Stalin was a brutal leader and was threatened by USA's imperialism It had suffered three invasions across it, beginning with the one by Napoleon in 1812. Additionally, it was invaded by Great Britain and France in 1856, the Crimean War, because they feared Christian Russia more than Muslim Turkey. They did not want Russian influence on the path to India through the Middle East. Fear of Russia has been the driver of much bloodshed and allowed the growth of NAZI Germany before the rude awakening of 1938 at Munich. The UK, under Winston Churchill, feared Russia and conveyed that fear to the USA by his speech at Fulton, Missouri in March, 1946, not long after Kennan's Telegram in February. These began the first Cold War, I believe.
In this context, it should be recalled that the Bretton Woods Conference, that created the IMF and the World Bank, had concluded in July 1944. It was clearly the financial foundation for financial control of Europe. The USSR must have seen it as the monetary means for USA's postwar imperial ambitions, of which Russia did not wish to become a part. The nature of the IMF and World Bank became apparent, especially in Latin America, where its loans were contingent on their production of non-competive agriculture, not competitive with USA's agriculture. They could not produce food for their own people.
The behavior of the USA as a militarized empire since the end of WW2, must be viewed also as Russia saw it in order to understand the first Cold War. The policy of "containment" surely generated the Soviet response, just as the expansion of NATO since 1999 has led to the US/Russo Proxy War in Ukraine as part of the second Cold War. What was needed at the end of WW2, just as in 2022, was the inclusion of Russia as part of a European security system, as Vladimir Putin demanded. Instead, on both occasions, Russia was confronted only with military force, NATO.
Brilliant !!!
Gaddis: one of the rare islands of true scholarship and acuity in the muck of American academia.