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I said that wherever these people, meaning the Soviet leadership, confronted us with dangerous hostility anywhere in the world, we should do everything possible to contain it and not let them expand any further. I should have explained that I didn't suspect them of any desire to launch an attack on us. This was right after the war, and it was absurd to suppose that they were going to turn around and attack the United States. I didn't think I needed to explain that, but I obviously should have done it.

George F. Kennan#18

StrategyPerceptionCold warConfinementDefenseMisunderstanding

About this quote

What does it mean?
Containment of Soviet hostility was intended without suspecting imminent attack on the US. This context was misunderstood.
In plain terms
Containment meant stopping Soviet expansion not expecting an imminent attack.
What can you take from it?
Containment was defensive but is often misinterpreted as expecting war.

Where it applies

  • foreign policy
  • historical study
  • political strategy

Putting it to work

  • Clarify policy goals
  • Address misperceptions early

Questions to consider

  • What makes policy misunderstood?
  • How do you clarify intent?

Another view

Containment may have been necessary even without imminent attack threat.

More from George F. Kennan

  1. We are, if territory and population be looked at together, one of the great countries of the world - a monster country, one might say, along with others such a…

    Permalink to quote #17
  2. Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchang…

    Permalink to quote #19
  3. I write to say that in the idea of the three American states' ultimate independence, whether separately or in union, I see nothing fanciful. [Such] are at pres…

    Permalink to quote #16

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