Word: kennan
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...hunch was an outgrowth of the containment policy, the essence of which is that if the Russians are kept from further expansion they will eventually become easier to deal with. Kennan, principal author of the containment policy, tends to see the Politburo as a projection of historical Czarist policy, gives a lesser place in his appraisal to the dynamics of Communism's drive for world conquest. Shortly before he went to Moscow last May, Kennan said: "I will be happy if the work at Moscow gives me a chance to make a contribution to the reduction of existing tensions...
...When Kennan arrived in Moscow, he was shocked by a violent "hate-America" campaign in the Russian press, and said so in his reports to Acheson. That Expert Kennan should have been surprised was surprising, for the campaign had gone on for 18 months before his arrival in Moscow, and had been reported by the U.S. press and by U.S. Government experts...
Dean Acheson angrily told his audience in the pressroom that it was Russia itself which had broken the "norms" by its long-standing campaign of vituperation against the U.S.* Nevertheless, there was no choice: Kennan would be called home for "consultation." A new Ambassador to Moscow will probably not be appointed till next year...
Those are the surface facts of the Kennan case. The facts behind it are more interesting, and throw a sharp light on the Administration's "containment" policy toward Russia...
...Went to Moscow. Kennan was appointed Ambassador to Moscow last February because Secretary of State Dean Acheson and his top advisers, notably Kennan himself, had become persuaded that there might be a chance for a new and better phase in U.S.-Russian relations. Kennan, who served in Russia before (1933-37, 1944-46) and speaks the language fluently, seemed to be the man to make the most of a chance for negotiations, should it come. Just why Acheson and Kennan thought that the Russians were about ready for a settlement is not clear: there was no concrete evidence. Senior State...