Midterm Flashcards
Walter Russel Mead - Special Providence
> U.S. FP has a unique and stable character defined by four main approaches:
Hamiltonian: Coordination between government and business to promote commerce and integrate with the global economy (economic power)
Jeffersonian: Focused on securing democracy domestically and avoiding entanglements and unsavory allies
Jackson: Promote the physical security and economic wellbeing of U.S. citizens–but is generally isolationist until provoked
Wilson: Moral obligation and national interest in spreading U.S. values (rule of law and the power of institutions etc.)
Gaddis - Chapter 1
Roosevelt & the end of WW II
> Cooperation with the Soviet Union was required to minimize casualties and defeat Germany
> FDR did not see ideology as a barrier to cooperation with the Soviet Union
> Thought that Soviet Union could gradually be integrated into the world system to normalize its behavior
> Economic aid was a key part of this strategy (as was the leverage of the atomic bomb)
George Kennan - Sources of Soviet Conduct & “The Long Telegram”
(1946)
(Six main points)
> Soviet Union needed to define capitalism as threatening to maintain dictatorship
> Stalin is aggressive and expansionist – but is not in a hurry
> Soviet System unstable and would collapse over the long term
> Proposed containment as a patient, proactive campaign of resistance to Soviet expansion
> Thought Soviet Union would evengutally either change or collapse
Walter Lippmann - “The Cold War”
(Response to “Sources of Soviet Conduct”)
(Five points)
> Saw Sources of Soviet Conduct as an articulation of the Truman Doctrine
> Did not think soviet conduct was driven by Communism, but long-term trends in Russian FP (control of its near abroad)
> Thought containment was too costly to implement
> “Unatural” (non-EU) alliances could drag U.S. into war
> Favored withdrawl from EU, diplomacy, and negotiation
Timeline 45 - 53: FDR & Truman
(6 items)
45 > Yalta
47 > Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and Defesne Reorginization Act
48 > Coup in Czechoslovakia
49 > NATO and East/West Germany, and PRC established + Soviet atom bomb
50 > Korean War begins & NSC-68
52 > Eisenhower elected
Timeline 53 - 61: Eisenhower
(6 items)
53 > Stalin dies & Korean Armistice (CIA intervention in Iran)
54 > Vietnam is partitioned
55 > WG joins NATA & Warsaw Pact formed
56 > Suez crisis and Hungarian revolt + Eisenhower reelected (has limted congressional support)
57 > Sputnik
59/60 > Castro, U-2 incident, and Kennedy
Timeline 61 -69: Kennedy & Johnson
(6 items)
61 > Pay of Pigs and Berlin Wall
62 > Cuban Missile Crisis
63 > Hot line & Atomic Test Ban Treaty (Kennedy killed)
64 > Tonkin, Khrushchev gone, and LBJ wins
65 > U.S. ecalates in Vietnam
68 > Tet offensive and Nixon is elected
Timeline 69 -77: Nixon and Ford
68 > Nixon elected
69 > Vietnam disengagement and Sino/Soviet tensions
70 > U.S. invades Cambodia
72 > Nixon goes to China + Watergate starts
73 > Vietnam peace & War Powers Act
74 > Nixon resigns
75 > Vietnam collapses
Original Containment (Kennan et. al)
(7 points)
> Interest not threat driven
> Threat assesed based on capabilities & intention (war not predicted)
> Pluralistic
> Comprehensive and asymetical response
> Hard point ballance of power
> Poorly communicated
> Resource constrained
NSC - 68 (Truman)
> More ideological and saw Soviet Union as more aggressive (global ambitions)
> Favored a military buildup and sysmetical response
> Not resource constrained
> Strength must proceed negotiations
> Wanted perimeter, not hard point defense
> Congressional pressure + Korean war pushed it over the line
New Look (Eisenhower)
> Thought recources were limited
> Relied on overwhelming nuclear response
> More selective in responding to agression
> Used alliances, covert action, and psychological warfare to supplement military
> Negotiations were not fruitful
> Pushed against the military industrial complex
Flexible Response (Kennedy & Johson)
> Had a more nuanced view of Soviet threat (pluralistic)
> Symetrical and comprhensive (throwback to NS 68)
> More action oriented
> Sought to control escalation through calibrated responses
> Thought perceptions of powere were very important
> Poorly implemented: Statistics, “fine tuning” impossible, and “crisis” oriented
Detente (Nixon)
> Focused on nuance, balance of power, & U.S. interests (Kennan throwback)
> Threat was psychological, military, and pluralistic
> Wanted to use linkage strategies and “serious” negotiation (overpromised)
> Sino/Soviet split
> Possibly immoral, bungled 3rd world, and lost military superiority
Truman Bueracratic / Leadership Style
> Fundamentally shaped world order in a time of transition
> Marshall and Aecheson were exceptional talents
> Created the modern national security state
> Sort of Jacksonian
> Truman Doctrine (Focused and Greece and Turkey, but misinterpreted as broader)
Eisenhower Buerecratic and Leadership Style
> Seen as nonpolitica and “normal”
> Dulles was sort of his “attack dog” and implementer
> Lots of interagency process but unclear if it really had much of an impact on him
> Relied on a chain of command
