Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of Postwar American National Security - Softcover

Gaddis, John Lewis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195030974 ISBN 13: 9780195030976

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1982

Synopsis

When Strategies of Containment was first published, the Soviet Union was still a superpower, Ronald Reagan was president of the United States, and the Berlin Wall was still standing. This updated edition of Gaddis' classic carries the history of containment through the end of the Cold War. Beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt's postwar plans, Gaddis provides a thorough critical analysis of George F. Kennan's original strategy of containment, NSC-68, The Eisenhower-Dulles "New Look," the Kennedy-Johnson "flexible response" strategy, the Nixon-Kissinger strategy of détente, and now a comprehensive assessment of how Reagan-- and Gorbachev-- completed the process of containment, thereby bringing the Cold War to an end.
He concludes, provocatively, that Reagan more effectively than any other Cold War president drew upon the strengths of both approaches while avoiding their weaknesses. A must-read for anyone interested in Cold War history, grand strategy, and the origins of the post-Cold War world.

About this title

About the Author:

John Lewis Gaddis is the Robert A. Lovett Professor of History at Yale university, a winner of the Bancroft Prize, and a preeminent expert on the Cold War.

Review:

"Excellently organized, a good focused survey of American foreign policy strategies during the cold war."--Tanya Charwick, Ohio State University

"A welcome contribution to the literature of the subject and should become a point of departure for scholars of modern American foreign policy."--Review of Politics

"Deserves the attention of every student of foreign affairs."--Foreign Service Journal

"A superb and timely overview of the evolution of U.S. national security policy since the close of World War II."--Orbis

"A work of truly distinguished scholarship that makes an invaluable contribution of American policy towards the Soviet Union since World War II."--Alexander L. George, Stanford University

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0195030974
• ISBN 13: 9780195030976
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448