"The original purpose of this essay was to clear up confusion about George Kennan's containment policy, to determine what Mr. "X" really meant. However, after thoroughly analyzing the record for 1944-47, one is left with the unsatisfying conclusion that Kennan did not fully recognize the implications of his own policy. His mastery of the English language is undeniable, but one should not confuse the gift of expression with clarity of thought. In fact, this gift may have been one of his problems, for according to colleagues, once Kennan committed ideas to paper the could become "intellectually locked in." Being a stylist, he was reluctant to alter his analysis or the flow of his language."
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People from MilwaukeeDiplomats of the United StatesUnited States Ambassadors to Russia and the Soviet UnionUnited States Department of State Directors of Policy PlanningUnited States Ambassadors to Yugoslavia
Original Language: English
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Sources
C. Ben Wright, "Mr. "X" and Containment", Slavic Review, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Mar., 1976)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_F._Kennan
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George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan (16 February 1904 – 17 March 2005) was an American diplomat and historian, who served as ambassador to the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. He was known best as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War on which he later reversed himself. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly histories of the relations between the USSR and the United States. He was also one of the group of foreign policy elders known as "The Wise Men".
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