The Similarities And Differences Between Kennin And Nsc-68

The purpose of this essay is to conduct an examination through a comparative perspective of two policies that defined and shaped early Cold War foreign policy: George Kennan’s strategy of containment, as outlined in the Long Telegram, and Paul Nitze’s National Security Memorandum No. 68, abbreviated as NSC-68. Both policies, while similar in their intent to safeguard the United States from the emerging Soviet threat, pursued divergent approaches in how best to achieve this goal. As the political and economic conditions under which they were constructed were far different, despite the comparatively short time between their adoption as policy, the assumptions and approaches were far more dissimilar than in parallel to one another. In order to proceed to the discussion of policy similarities and differences, an understanding of the context and conditions under which both Kennan and …show more content…
The notion of perimeter defense, absconded by Kennan, was of the first mandates, as the need to protect peripheral interests was seen as equally as important as protecting vital interests, due to the effects of the domino theory, in that “psychological insecurity could as easily develop from the distant sound of falling dominoes as from the rattling of sabers next door.” In contrast to Kennan’s theory of containment, NSC-68 viewed maintaining control over territory in a higher regard than protecting key areas of infrastructure and industry, another area of divergence from Kennan. This change in priority necessitates the change in policy from focusing on a few key countries, to protecting all friendly nations: Nitze et al were of the opinion that every nation lost was an enemy made, and with enough losses, the odds were raised “that no coalition adequate to confront the Kremlin with greater strength could be