Richard J. Barnet

In the following viewpoint Richard J. Barnet reexamines two documents written in the beginning of the Cold War: George F. Kennan’s 1947 article “The Sources of Soviet Conflict,” written under the pseudonym Mr. X, and journalist Walter Lippmann’s book The Cold War, which consisted of columns written in response to Kennan’s article. Kennan’s article was the inspiration for the U.S. policy of containment of Soviet aggression. According to Barnet, Kennan maintained that although the Soviet Union was at that time ideologically and economically weak, it was committed to proving the superiority of the Communist philosophy. In Barnet’s view, President Harry Truman exaggerated Kennan’s portrayal of the Soviets as unshakeable in their desire for world...