Week 7 George Kennan’s “Long Telegram”
In 1946, an American diplomat stationed in Moscow, George Kennan, sent a 8,000-word telegram to the Department of State in Washington DC analyzing the nature of Soviet Union’s foreign policy. Kennan’s report, known as “long telegram,” provided the United States with a conceptual framework to contain Soviet expansionism during the Cold War. After reading the original document Download original document, write a 500-word post responding to the following questions:
1)What are the “Basic features of post-war Soviet outlook”?
2)What is the Soviet Union’s worldview? Why do they fear the western world?
3)Why does Kennan believe the Soviet Union poses a threat to the United States?
4)What actions are the Soviets likely to take and how should the United States respond?
5)Does Kennan believe the United States should go to war against the Soviet Union?
6)What weaknesses does Kennan suggest the Soviet Union possesses that could serve as an advantage to the United States?
7)What is “containment”?
