U.S. Foreign Policy

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the revisionist views of Walter LaFeber, Arnold Offner and John Gaddis with regards to the outbreak of the Cold War. It specifically focuses on their claim that the USA and Great Britain were also responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War, as their strategy of foreign policy was short-sighted and, in many respects, lacked responsibility for the future.

From the Paper:

"Drawing a conclusion, it's important to note that the ideas of revisionist authors such as Walter LaFeber, Arnold Offner and John Gaddis are based on rationalism, yet evaluation of definite political issues is made from the perspective of people who are free of "western propaganda". The cold war was inevitable already, at the end of WWII, as both super powers revealed its potential, which was hidden and undervalued in pre-war years. The Marshall Plan, which in many respects accelerated the coming of the Cold War, was also inevitable, due to the popularity of communist and socialist ideas in France, Italy and Germany, especially in years of reconstruction, when European nations lacked economic stability and bearable conditions of living. The collapse of the colonial system with its unpredictable circumstances was also more a fault of former empires, than a fault of the USA, as none of the empires appeared able to control political and social processes in their former colonies."

Sample of Sources Used:

• LaFeber, Walter America, Russia, and the Cold War McGraw-Hill Humanities, 2006
• Merrill, Dennis Major Problems in American Foreign Relations: Since 1914 Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005

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