Question

share your thoughts on the Truman Doctrine and containment. Do you think this was effective? Should America have been more proactive against the Soviet Union? Were threats exaggerated?

Answer 1

• Truman’s foreign policy, firstly, relied upon the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine was a policy that meant the US would end its policy of isolationism and would take a stand against Soviet expansionism and would be prepared to use economic, diplomatic and military force to prevent the spread of communism.
• Truman had no prior experience in foreign policy, and largely took the advice of men such as Churchill, George Kennan and Dean Acheson, who advised a tougher line against the Soviet Union and argued that the only language they would understand was, “How many divisions have you?”.
• He reflected this in his policy. Truman probably faced more individual foreign policy challenges in his two terms than any other President post-war, and dealt with most of them well, with a few exceptions. Broadly, in Europe he was successful and in Asia he was less so.
• Truman’s foreign policy was overall a success, with the presence of the Soviet Union not expanding hugely with the exception of China and South-East Asia. In Europe he was an undisputed success, as communism spread no further into Western Europe or the Near East, and the formation of NATO would prove to be a key feature of the security of Western Europe for the next half century and even to the present day.
• However the precedent Truman set, which was that American military might could solve the world’s problems, gave rise to the military-industrial complex and rising defence budgets, which made America the “policeman of the world”.
• This has resulted in an unshakeable faith in American interventionism, which has had terrible results at times, especially in the Middle East. However Truman did succeed hugely in Europe and for this he must be credited, as he had no foreign policy experience and it was an extremely testing time for any President.
• Due to time limit,remaining can be asked as another question,they will be answered,thankyou for your cooperation