Question

The dual foreign policy tenets of threatening "massive retaliation," sometimes called brinksmanship, and the CIA-orchestrated covert operations to overthrow elected leaders around the world perceived (or in reality) as friendly to communism were seen (and continue to be seen) as counterproductive by some critics of John Foster Dulles and historians of the Cold War. Given what you have learned from reading and thinking about Chapter 26 and these documents, do you believe the Eisenhower/Dulles approach was effective in keeping America safe and secure?

Answer 1

Answer.

The Cold War years under the political statesmanship of the then US President Eisenhower and the Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles between the years 1953 and 1959, were marked by an extreme and risky experimentation in the American foreign policy in the postwar era. It marked the introduction of Eisenhower’s New Look defense policy, that called for a shift away from conventional military parity and emphasized technological superiority and the stockpiling of nuclear arms in an effort to deter nuclear war and counter the increasing fear of international communism in Europe, Asia and South America as led by the communist Soviet Union. Their anti communist foreign policy of nuclear deterrence and ‘brinkmanship’ led to a controversial willingness to steer the nation to the brink of war in order to achieve his diplomatic goals and ultimately ensure peace.

Thus, the Eisenhower government appears to have applied it’s paranoia of communism against the liberal, social reformers and intelligentsia within the nation leading to a state of a mass hysteria  and fear of any progressive thought or dissent as anti nationalist and communist ideology. Thus, more than securing the nation against ideological threats, the policy created internal divisions within th eAmerican society. Secondly, the general attitude towards military supremacy and nuclear armamentation send to have created an international atmosphere of tension and suspicion in th world politics. Dulles’s brinkmanship polices led to the direct involvement of the United States agianst the communist tide in Eastern Europe, including Poland, East Germany, and Hungary. In 1954, after the siege of the French fortress at Dien Bien Phu by communist Vietnamese forces, Dulles initiated the creation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in order to contain the expansion of communism in that part of the world. In addition, the US involvement in the Korean War and the intervention between th communist led China and the democratic movement in Taiwan, further led to a global attitude of hostility towards the United Statesthat prevailed for several years. Thus, more than securing the boundaries of the United States, the Eisenhower-Dulles period created an atmosphere of hostilities and tension which prevailed for several years.