Kennan’s containment policy, however, was not without its controversy. Shortly after the publication of the X Article, Walter Lippmann, a journalist of American foreign affairs, asserted that Keenan’s positions on Russian policy were heavily flawed due to his misrepresentation of Marxist ideology. Specifically, Lippmann believed that Kennan had incorrectly attributed Russian expansion as being indicative to communism while neglecting the historical ambition of czars to expand along the Mediterranean. While Lippmann agreed on the premise that Soviet power would continue to expand unless opposed by American force, he opposed the notion to use counter-force when the Soviet Union threatened to expand as America lacked the economic power and military
