Kennans Telegram and the Cold War - Essay Example

The United States joined hands with the Allies to defeat Germany and the Axis powers in the Second World War. However, before that, the Soviet Union, which was a wartime ally to the United States had a history of promoting the Marxist political ideology of Communism. There were numerous signs that the Soviet Union sought to export the Marxist ideology to other nations like the United States (Miscamble 1). After the Second World War, the telegram of George Kennan played a significant role in creating a hostile global order that provided the impetus for the Cold War. This paper examines the components and elements of the Kennan Telegram.

            George Kennan was an advisor at the US embassy in Moscow and he had a critical review and analysis of the Soviet Union and how they sought to pursue their foreign policy against Capitalist nations and non-friendly nations. In his telegram, George Kennan stated that the Soviet Union sought to promote and export their Communist ideology and promote revolutions in Capitalist nations. He stated in his telegram that “In course of further development of international revolution there will emerge two centers of world significance: a socialist center and drawing to itself the countries which tend toward socialism, and a capitalist center, drawing to itself the countries that incline toward capitalism.” This was at the center of Truman’s doctrine and later the presentation of the need to prevent the domino effect of Communism (Miscamble 54). This was central in shaping American Cold War ideology.

            The telegram also warned of the Soviet strategy of implanting Marxists in foreign nations to try to promote Marxism through spies. This formed the basis for the probing of various internal elements in the United States. This claim gained significance when the Soviet Union acquired nuclear weapons and there were accusations that US spies were involved in the process. This led to “McCarthyism” which became a byword for the targeting and persecution of suspected Soviet spies (Lacey 211).