Word: acheson
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...Acheson, of coarse, deal with more than foreign affairs. In vigorous prose, he traces two traditions he feels are fundamental to the Democratic Party--conservatism and pragmatic experimentation. He also launches into a forceful attack on the Government's security investigations--both under the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations. Despite these important subjects, however, Acheson, as prime author of the Containment Policy, perhaps speaks most authoritatively and most controversially in the sphere of foreign affairs...
...horrors of a nuclear war prompt Acheson to criticize sharply Dulles' policy of massive retaliation, which could have resulted in a "fatal miscalculation." He feels that nothing would reassure U. S. allies more than a blunt statement that this country will use nuclear weapons only if a "desperate death struggle" is forced upon us by a surprise atomic attack...
...Acheson's analysis of massive retaliation is clear and strong, although not particularly new. In fact, very little in the book is new at all, although the authors gives us an incisive discussion of past policy...
...Acheson in a sense looks backward with an historical perspective, Chester Bowles, in The New Dimensions of Peace, looks forward to a new American foreign policy required by a period of "competitive coexistence." The former Ambassador to India also strongly criticizes the policy of massive retaliation, but he goes on to outline a policy that is a challenge for any party--in or out of power...
Some of Bowles' historical observations may be open to question, and his policy proposals certainly demand full debate before acceptance. But his ideas are imaginative and bold--reasonable extensions of Acheson's incisive insights. The prologue and the play, together, could make powerful drama.CHESTER BOWLES...