Part One Long Essay
The origins of containment and how containment impacted American Foreign policy from 1947-1973.
The containment refers to a geopolitical policy that was established by the United States in the mid-1940s. While there have been numerous theories as to what led to the establishment of the containment strategy, most people associate with the Cold War Era as the United States tried to limit the spread of communism as the Second World War ended (Shi & Tindall, 2016). The need to limit the incorporation of communism in the world was influenced by the Soviet Union’s growing aggression as the Soviet Union tried to gain dominance in Africa, Europe, Asia, and Latin America (Hemmings, 2017). The concept behind the containment theory was to create a middle-ground position that was centered on actively replacing the Soviet Union’s growth and relaxing the relations between different nations since the World War had resulted in hostility between the different countries of the world (Hemmings, 2017). The first draft of the containment theory was made public in 1946 by George F. Kenna who was the United States diplomat during President’s Harry S. Trueman’s presidency after the Second World War (Shi & Tindall, 2016).
Earlier uses of term
Even though most people associate the containment with the United States and the Soviet Union post the Second World War, it is important to note that there were earlier types of containment. For example, during the 1850s, there was the development of the free soil strategy of containment that was pioneered by the anti-slavery forces. This strategy was aimed at curbing the spread of slavery until it was no longer viable (Hemmings, 2017). The strategy was made possible by the federal government whereby it would surround the south with free waters, free territories and Free states in an attempt to develop a cordon of freedom within the areas where slavery was rampant. The idea behind this was to suffocate slavery until the slave masters and traders decided to abandon slavery (Hemmings, 2017).
Another example of earlier forms of containment can be traced to the 1870s whereby Germany was involved in settling the internal affairs challenges being experienced by its neighbor France. Between 1873 and 1877, Germany repeatedly intervened in the internal affairs of France’s neighbors (Sloan, 2017). In addition to the intervention Germany had in France’s internal affairs, Germany was also engaged in the internal affairs of Italy, Spain, and Belgium where it exerted significant pressure on these governments in support of the appointment or election of anticlerical regimes (Hemmings, 2017). Germany’s attempts within its neighbor states were in an attempt to advocate for republicanism in France. Germany’s strategy entailed ideologically and strategically isolating President Patrice de Mac-Mahon who was the head of the clerical-monarchist regime (Sloan, 2017).
Earlier uses of containment in other nations can also be seen in the 1917 attempts by Western leaders to suppress Bolshevik government. The Bolshevik came into power through a brutal revolution that the Westerns believed advocated for a worldwide revolution (Sloan, 2017). In an attempt to suppress the Bolshevik government in Russia, French Premier Georges Clemenceau in 1919 called on all non-communist nations around the world to enact sanctions on the Soviet Union (Hemmings, 2017). .
The threat the Soviet Union seemed to pose to the world resulted in the United States failing to recognize it. However, President Franklin D. Roosevelt did away with the policies that had been enacted to promote the isolation of the Soviet Union from the United States. The revocation of the United States containment against the Soviet Union was in an attempt to expand the American export market (Shi & Tindall, 2016). The Soviet Union seems to have been of the reasons why the containment theory came to be widely incorporated due to the numerous attempts it made prior the post –Second World War era to spread communism. For example, the Nazi’s encroachment into Europe is was resulted in the 1938 Munich Agreement (Hemmings, 2017). In addition to the impact the Soviet Union and Germany played in the conception of earlier version of the containment policy, the Japanese invasion of Asia influenced the United States to come up with a containment strategy to stop this expansion. It is through the containment strategy the United States tried to adopt against Japan that resulted in the attack at Pearl Harbor (Shi & Tindall, 2016).
The Origin The Containment Post The Second World War. (1944–1947)
The establishment of the infamous containment by the United States against the Soviet Union can be traced to 1944. The containment was influenced by the Key State Department’s distrust in the Soviet Union as the Second World War ended (Sloan, 2017). The views the United States developed regarding the Soviet Union were influenced by its Ambassador (Averell Harriman) to Moscow who expressed his discontent in the Soviet Union’s failure to abide by the February 1945 Yalta Agreement that had been established to improve relations between the Soviet Union and Poland (Hemmings, 2017). It is through the remarks made by Averell Harriman regarding the Soviet’s Union failure to abide by the Yalta Agreement that influenced President’s Truman views about the Soviet Union resulting in the development of the Containment policy.
The containment policy came into play in February 1946 when the United States Department inquired from the then U.S diplomat at Moscow (George F. Kennan), why Russia was not inclined towards the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In response, Kenan stated that the Soviet Union was neither adventuristic nor schematic. Thus, the Union was not inclined towards taking unnecessary risks (Sempa, 2018). Thus, even if the Soviet Union would participate in the development of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund it could easily withdraw when faced with a strong resistance of force that is working against its interests (Sempa, 2018).
In addition to the remarks above, Kenna pointed out that the Soviet Union considered itself to be in a constant state of war against capitalism, something the development of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund advocated for (Sloan, 2017). Including the Soviet Union in the development of these international institutions would not be viable according to Kennan since the Soviet Union was too aggressive and did not align its decisions based on economic realities nor with the input of its citizens (Sloan, 2017). The soviet government had also been structured in a manner that did not support the use of objectiveness in the tackling of internal and external realities, making the Soviet Union’s leaders fail to understand the reason behind the establishment of these international financial institutions (Sloan, 2017).
Kennan’s remarks regarding the Soviet Union were well received since most people viewed his remarks as the recognition of the unrealistic nature of the Soviet Union that had been long overlooked (Sempa, 2018). It is through the public approval that Kennan’s message got that resulted in the publication of this article “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” in the journal of foreign affairs. The article was published after it received approval from James V. Forrestal, the then Navy Secretary (Sempa, 2018). However, it is important to note that the article utilized the pseudonym “X.” It is based on the impact the article had that resulted in the actions that would be then taken by the United States against the Soviet Union being referred to as “containment” (Hemmings, 2017).
The containment policy had a significant impact in not only combating the spread of communism by the Soviet Union but also by improving international relationship between different countries. One of the significant impact the containment policy had was by bankrupting the Soviet Union (Sempa, 2018). The containment policy was also felt by other nations that made attempts that were considered as hostile and prone to result in the development of the idea that revolution was something that countries could undertake without significant consideration of its diverse internal and external consequences (Hemmings, 2017). The United States also used the containment theory to end the Korean War after South Korea faced a communism invasion by North Korea. The actions taken by the United States involved pushing back North Korea within its boundaries thus enabling South Korea to remain a sovereign state. The containment policy was also utilized in the liberation of Ester Europe from the Soviet Union (Hemmings, 2017).
The containment policy was also put into play during the 1962 Cuban Missile Scare after the United States learned that the Soviet Union had deployed some of its Ballistic Missiles in Cuba. However, after lengthy negotiations, an agreement was reached where the United States agreed never to invade Cuba again while the United States agreed to dismantle missiles that it had deployed in Turkey that were to be used against the Soviet Union in the event of another war (Sempa, 2018). The containment policy was also witnessed in Vietnam where the United States used its forces to prevent the invasion of the country and other South Asian countries by communism. This containment policy in Vietnam however failed due to the growing aggression of communists in the country that resulted in an agreement being reached by Vietnam and the United States to withdrawal its military forces in the country (Hemmings, 2017). This move resulted in the eventual communist invasion of South Asian countries such as Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam. The United States withdrawal from Vietnam was also influenced by the Congress’s decision to force President Nixon to abandon the adoption of the containment policy. Even though the containment policy declined in popularity after the United States withdrawal from Vietnam, its effect was also felt in Afghanistan (Hemmings, 2017). Afghanistan was also a beneficiary of the policy of containment after the United States aided the country in fighting back the communist invasion it was being subjected to by the Soviet Union. Based on the numerous interventions the United States was engaged in fighting the communists through the containment policy, it is evident that the policy was successful in ensuring that the Soviet Union did not succeed spreading communism (Sempa, 2018).
Part Two Short Essay
Analyze Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society: a) describe what it consisted of, and b) assess its impact for change.
The establishment of the Great Society was influenced by the need to ensure that the United States restored civilization within its society. At the time of its implementation, the United States was being faced with a variety of issues that were challenging its position in the world. These challenges comprised of racial injustice, high crime rate, increased poverty, and environmental issues (Mantler, 2016). The Great Society is believed to have been designed in accordance to the Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and was centered on the provision of Medicaid, Medicare, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, and the Older Americans Act (Mantler, 2016). The significance of these Acts is manifested in the fact that they remain government programs to-date, decades after their implementation. It is based on the significant impact they have had in positively influencing the American society that they are referred to as the largest social reforms in modern American history (Mantler, 2016).
Great Society and the War on Poverty
The Great Society had a positive impact in fighting poverty by tabling the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Economic Opportunity Act to Congress in March 1964. The Act was designed to bring up the diverse issues the poverty had caused primarily among underprivileged Americans (Bon & Vecchiato, 2018). To address these issues, the Great Society aimed to create Jobs through the development of a Jobs Corps and by prompting the state and local governments to come up with training programs (Bon & Vecchiato, 2018). In addition to this, a national work-study program was enacted with the aim of providing college funding to an average of 140,000 Americans (Bon & Vecchiato, 2018).
Great Society and Healthcare
The Great Society also had a noteworthy effect on healthcare. The society made health care more accessible especially to the poor and the elderly since a significant percentage of them were uninsured (Schrader, 2018). The changes witnessed in health care were through the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid which were incorporated as part of government policy by the Johnson administration (Schrader, 2018). Through Medicare, healthcare institutions were offered funding to cover the costs for treating the elderly while Medicaid was designed to cover the health costs for persons receiving cash benefits from the government (Schrader, 2018).
Great Society and Education Reform
Education reforms were also a significant aspect of what the Great Society advocated for. The Great Society pioneered the Project Head Start which was designed to offer eight weeks of summer camp (Burch Jr, 2017). The project was operated under the Office of Economic Opportunity and resulted in more than half a million children between the age of 3 and 5 acquire preschool education. The Great Society also influenced the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 which was designed to guarantee government funding for children in low-income neighborhoods (Burch Jr, 2017).
In addition to the influence the Great Society policy had on pioneering education reforms, it also advocated for urban renewal. The need for urban renewal was due to the poor conditions of most American cities after the Second World War (Burch Jr, 2017). The poor state of most cities was also influenced by the high cost of living that made affordable housing inaccessible to most people. To improve the quality of housing, the government under the Great Society developed the Housing and Urban Development Act in 1965 to provide funding for urban development with the aim of ensuring houses met the required standards (Burch Jr, 2017). Even though the Great Society made significant progress in improving the livelihood of underprivileged Americans, the plan came to an abrupt end after the funds that had been allocated for the diverse programs were diverted towards the Vietnam War (Burch Jr, 2017).
Part III Identifications
The Fair Deal
The Fair Deal is one of the significant recommendations that helped improve the quality of life of all Americans by recommending that all Americans be awarded equal rights, that the minimum wage should increase, and that all Americans should be covered by health insurance (Hopkins, 2018).
Interstate Highway Act of 1956
This Acts refers to the 1956 Act that resulted in the construction of a 41,000 mile of interstate highways across the United States with the aim of improving the road network in the country. The interstate highway act resulted in numerous benefits such as stimulating economic growth through increased trade, less traffic death and injuries, and has been useful in easing commuting for work or recreational purposes across America (Kenna & Russell III, 2019).
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation refers to a government agency that was established in support of research and education in non-medical fields of engineering and science. The significance of this foundation has been manifested in its promotion of progress in science aimed at advancing national welfare, prosperity, health, and national defense (Kurczynski & Neff, 2018).
National Endowment for the Humanities
This is an independent government agency that was established with the aim of supporting education, research, public programs, and preservation in humanities. The significance of the agency has been manifested through the support it has offered in exhibiting artistic excellence since it was founded by the National Foundation on Arts and the 1965 Humanities Act (American Library Association, 2019).
Brown vs Board of Education
The Brown vs Board of Education refers to a case in which Oliver Brown, et al were challenging the establishment of state laws that made racial segregation in schools. The significance of the case is manifested in the impact it had in the abolishment of racial segregation in schools even if the schools had equal standards in terms of quality (Hockett, 2017).