Acheson and Kennan
Neumann, William L.
Acheson and Kennan Power and Diplomacy, by Dean Acheson. Harvard University Press. 137 pp. $3. Russia, the Atom and the West, by George F. Kennan. Harper. 116 pp. $3. Reviewed by William L....
...Outside of Europe Kennan's proposals also clash with those of his former chief...
...Destiny has not offered the United States the Middle East as its exclusive preserve and only by preparing to live without the oil of this area does Kennan believe the United States can deal effectively with Arab nationalism...
...Dean Acheson, former Secretary of State, and George F. Kennan, his distinguished brain-truster, have been able, in their years since leaving the State Department in 1953, to devote themselves as private citizens to a reconsideration of the basic principles of American policy...
...Kennan suggests a policy of disengagement, under which there would be agreement to unify Germany outside of NATO and directed at getting the Soviet forces out of Central Europe rather than building up a West German army to oppose them...
...Anglo-French policy in 1956 was "deceitful" and the attack on the Suez was "foolish in conception and execution," but instead of opposing this struggle with Nasser the United States might better have joined in the preparations and in the struggle itself if necessary...
...Drastically qualifying his "containment" policy, Kennan urges recognition of Russian economic responsibility for aiding in the tremendous task of industrializing and raising the living standards of the non-European world...
...To reject the comic book, the popular music, the soft drinks, and the juke box automobile would not present Britain with serious international repercussions...
...Senator Kennedy's proposals for American diplomatic support of the Algerian nationalists are scorchingly rejected by Acheson...
...Two volumes of lectures, Acheson's delivered to Americans and Kennan's to a British audience, offer a succinct statement of the results of this period of detachment...
...Although he states that a policy of massive retaliation is "a strategy of mutual suicide," Acheson still holds to his assumption of "negotiation from strength" and rejects the idea of any fruitful settlements with the Soviet Union at present...
...Kennan's lectures created a great discussion in European diplomatic circles and do outline a fresh approach to East-West conflicts...
...But, given the nature of nuclear warfare, Kennan believes, along with some Britishers, that Europe might better seek security in paramilitary forces used to train the populace in civil resistance to the invader rather than futile efforts at counter-violence...
...In large part it is an unintentional testimony to the many areas of continuity between the foreign policy of the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations...
...Acheson believes that American policy must still give first priority to Western Europe in the face of all other claims...
...He criticizes American military policy for failing to seek additional military strength with which to fight limited non-nuclear wars, but he has no quarrel with the assumptions of the missiles race...
...Americans are being disliked not for their own sakes but because "the European fears the American in himself...
...To the British he points out that the introduction of the worst aspects of American culture was of their own doing...
...Friendly relations with the Afro-Asian world must not be permitted to weaken American ties in NATO, he argues...
...For such heresy Kennan has been attacked by Acheson for his failure to grasp "the realities of power relationships...
...Americans underTHE estimate the talents of the leaders of the Asian and African nations in assuming that economic relations with Russia will result in their succumbing to the seductions of Communism...
...In a concluding chapter devoted to Anglo-American relations Kennan offers some encouraging thoughts for Americans planning vacations in Europe...
...Germany is the major problem to be faced, and here Kennan believes that American thought has been unrealistic in expecting the Russians to sacrifice their military position in Eastern Germany without any sacrifice on the part of the United States...
...Power and Diplomacy, while lacking the sanctimonious moralizing of Acheson's successor's speeches, is rich in platitudes and poor in fresh thought...
...Reviewed by William L. Neumann American efforts in the past five years to shape the course of world affairs have not been marked by notable successes...
Vol. 22 • April 1958 • No. 4
