Generation 'X' (Much of what you know about the father of containment is probably wrong)

Wall Street Journal ^ | Friday, February 20, 2004 | WILSON D. MISCAMBLE

[presidio9]

George F. Kennan's 100th birthday this week has prompted a round of effusive praise for the contributions of the man who has been dubbed "the architect," "the great theorist" and "the founding father" of containment -- the vaunted Cold War method by which the Soviet threat to the West was not so much confronted as "contained." Discussing Mr. Kennan's famous "X" article, published in the July 1947 issue of Foreign Affairs, led no less an authority than Henry Kissinger to suggest that Mr. Kennan "came as close to authoring the diplomatic doctrine of his era as any diplomat in our history."

[presidio9]

George Kennan, in Ned Seidler's portrait

[DJtex]

Thanks for the post. Having read the famous "X" article--as have many of us--I agree that Kennan got a lot of the details wrong, though he gave a powerful "call to arms" concerning the Soviet/Communist threat as global/ideological rather than geographically centered.

Kennan himself described a reverse Iron Curtain to encircle the USSR. Containment actually evolved as a hopscotch effort from Korea to VietNam to Africa. And also, Kennan totally missed the central importance of Europe and NATO in containing Communism.

Still, he was a great theorist and a vital force in organizing our response to Stalin and his successors.

BTW, I am not convinced that Russia is no longer a central threat to world stability. Putin still commands a vast arsenal and Russia still cherishes dreams of Empire.

[TopQuark]

BTW, I am not convinced that Russia is no longer a central threat to world stability. Putin still commands a vast arsenal and Russia still cherishes dreams of Empire.

I think you are correct in both your conclusion and reasoning. You can take the Russian out of the empire but you cannot take the imperialist our the Russian. It's just a matter of time before their generals get tired of "weakening national pride." And, it's just a matter of tume until the average Ivan and Katie will want to be led by a strong man.