Containment as Universal Doctrine Free Essay Example, 1250 words

Soon this concept of containment was adapted to the whole of Europe. The Truman administration was convinced of the effectiveness of this concept that it sought to give financial aid to the Soviet Union and its allies. However, USSR turned down the offer since it viewed it as a scheme of the United States to control the economies of the communist states (Spalding 98). The doctrine of containment played to bring out the strengths as well as the weakness of the United States. It contributed to the recognition of the United States as a political and economic powerhouse in Europe and the world. Truman had grown increasingly wary of the impact of the increasing influence of the USSR to America’s political and economic interests. Due to this fact, Truman vigorously campaigned for the doctrine of containment to the American people as well as the Congress. However, George Kennan opposed Truman doctrine for its perceived weakness of being too open-minded to extend America’s resources and commitment. The Marshall plan of distributing American resources to allies was seen as a risky undertaking since some of the perceived allies could enter into treaties with USSR. We will write a custom essay sample on Containment as Universal Doctrine or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Some military policies supported by the Truman Doctrine did not auger well with the American policy. Truman doctrine changed the image of the United States from that of promotion of democracy and freedom and upholding human rights to a cruel state driven by a grand strategy agenda. Through the containment policy, the U. S approved undemocratic and immoral foreign policies to woo allies in America’s favor to contain USSR. The government sponsored and supported dissidents in communist territories to topple communism regimes. The doctrine became unpopular to a section of the American people who viewed the government as using the doctrine to commit atrocities such as the bombing of Cambodia (Hill 217). In addition, containment doctrine started to be used as a justification of unconventional and clandestine operational methods in the 1970s and 1980s. It is out of this context that secret organizations such as the CIA developed to powerful machiner y that was beyond the scrutiny of the public. Containment doctrine weakened the diplomatic ties between U. S and USSR. The Gulf and mistrust between USSR and United States widened because of the doctrine of containment. Stalin’s mistrust against the United States grew making it impossible to have a peaceful settlement with the United States. The result of this was converting the United States administration from one that did not meddle with foreign affairs of other states to one that acted the role of a global policeman (Pieper 3, 4).