Truman Doctrine: Definition & Facts - Term Paper Example

The Truman Doctrine On March 12th, 1947, President Harry Truman addressed the Congress on a matter which changed America's foreign policy completely.Previously the United States had always preferred to be uninvolved in other countries internal affairs - an isolationist policy1. However President Truman changed that and from that moment onwards, America's foreign policy actively embraced involvement in other countries affairs if it thought that those conditions would lead to a threat to America's own sovereignty. After World War II, Britain found herself unable to bear the costs of maintaining aid to countries she had previously supported. Greece and Turkey, formerly assisted by Britain, now found themselves about to be cut loose. The retreating Germans left Greece extremely crippled, destroying all the communications systems, sinking 90 % of the merchant marine, and burning around a thousand villages to the ground2. The Greek government found themselves left with a failing country, whose people were dying of malnourishment, and they had no supplies or the means to obtain those supplies to aid the people. In fact, even prior to the war, Greece was only able to provide enough for the country through massive imports. After the war, there was nothing but devastation. In addition, during the war, the country had been subjected to several guerrilla attacks, and these continued afterwards as well. The movement was predominantly Communist -led and after some protracted discussion, the communist -led EAM movement was allowed a few seats in government. However, this did not work out as hoped, and over the next few years, Greece fell into political instability, which, Britain and the U.S. felt was mainly, the responsibility of the communists. Though Turkey was not as badly off as her neighbor Greece, both the Allies felt the danger of the spread of Communism and believed if Greece fell then her neighbor would too, and Britain requested that the United States contribute towards maintaining economic and military stability in the country3. America in particular, felt the danger in Communism, linking it to the Soviet Union, and felt that allowing it to spread in Greece and Turkey could mean allowing the Soviet Union and Communists to gather greater power all along Asia, stretching all the way up to India - the domino theory; if one falls, they all fall, one after the other. Addressing Congress with this scenario, President Truman requested 400 million dollars in aid for these countries, stating the danger of allowing communism to spread and advocated the intervention by America into other countries affairs to prevent a threat to themselves later. He also requested that American experts be sent there to supervise the distribution of aid. He said: "One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States is the creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work out a way of life free from coercion. This was a fundamental issue in the war with Germany and Japan. Our victory was won over countries which sought to impose their will, and their way of life, upon other nations"4 The speech, which also said : "I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes." called for the country's greater involvement in the United Nations. One of the major outcomes of this speech and the doctrine is that it shaped America's foreign policy for the years to follow. After rescuing Greece economically, America has subsequently given aid to many countries torn by civil wars for example Indonesia5, and notably, Vietnam6. Vietnam especially is obvious for America's fight against communism. However this policy has also led to America becoming extremely paranoid about the threats to its democratic freedom and may also be responsible for the shaping of America's national security strategy7. This effectively allows the country to attack others whom it feels will be a threat to them. In addition it permits them to support democracies and countries that support their interests. This could lead to a situation in which America would be the sole dictator of government in the world, deciding who is right and wrong. In fact, critics like Chomsky (Hegemony and Survival) say this is already the case, and that America is the very dictator it professes to despise. Many people also feel that Truman's doctrine helped to establish the Cold war in the years to come, so obvious was it about preventing the hold of communism and Soviet influence on the rest of the world. Truman's Doctrine has indubitably given American foreign policy a turn he might never have predicted; by linking foreign policy with their own national interests and security issues, Truman's policy paved the way for the current state, in which America can dictate to the rest of the world what democracy is, and therefore, if a country disagrees, allows America the freedom to proclaim them a threat to the international community and democracy at large, and declare war. Though an honorable (if not altogether altruistic) policy, it has given America a dangerous amount of power, which could be very badly misused, and perhaps already has been. REFERENCES 1. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/teacher/doctrine.htm 2. Background memorandum, http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/doctrine/large/documents/index.phppagenumber=2&documentid=0&documentdate=1947-03-03&studycollectionid=TDoctrine&groupid= 3. Summary of Telegram, http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/doctrine/large/documents/index.phpdocumentdate=1947-02-25&documentid=50&studycollectionid=TDoctrine&pagenumber=1 4. Truman's speech, http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/trudoc.htm 5. http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/east_timor/features/usaid.html 6. http://www.vietnamwar.com/ 7. http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss/2006/sectionI.html Read More