Kennan - the Necessity for Containment

George Kennan was an American diplomat and expert on Soviet affairs at the end of World War II. It was Kennan's advice in an 8,000 word document sent to the State Department "which soon became official administration policy" (Boyer, 2005, p. 47) in handling the Russian leader at the end of the war. Kennan's insight into Stalin's strengths and weaknesses including his "fear of more competent, more powerful, more highly organized societies" (Kennan, The Necessity for Containment) which allowed Truman to make the firm decisions needed to confront the Russian ideals. Through Kennan's first-hand knowledge of Stalin he made it clear that Russia's agenda was different than Hitler's. The Soviet's were not prone to "take[ing] unnecessary risks" (Kennan, The Necessity for Containment) and any show of strong force coupled with intelligent patience would have them retreating. Much to Kennan's dismay some voices did not heed his advice to proceed "on the cautious side of Soviet behavior" (Boyer, 2005, p. 47). It was these radicals who could have caused the Cold War to have become hot at any moment. Truman, however, did take note of Kennan's advice to proceed firmly yet cautiously. Truman's approach of establishing the Marshall Plan and ignoring the Russian call for help caused the first fracture of the communist party. Kennan, additionally, stressed Russia would participate in programs "in international organizations where they see opportunity extending Soviet power" (Kennan, The Necessity for Containment) making it more likely to be included in programs where they saw merit for themselves. Therefore, fear, strength, and patience were instrumental in containing the communist monster until its eventual death many years later.