Massive, brilliant post-glasnost analysis of early cold-war
realities by Leffler (History/Univ. of Virginia). This study of how
Truman dealt with a world sealed off to him by FDR is a book and a
half. It deals with the inception of the cold war in terms that
make the Korean War a logical extension of existing policy rather
than an atypical crystallizing event. It penetrates the strident
rhetoric that gripped American thinking for 40 years down to the
eternal verities of economic advantage and the pursuit of power,
carefully articulating their linkage and diplomacy. At stake,
Leffler explains, was domination of European and Asian resources:
The US had its incomparable economy, a highly visible standard of
living, and a State Department not yet hobbled by willful chief
executives; the Soviet Union had an ideology that could "capitalize
on social dislocation and take advantage of nascent nationalism in
the third world." The feisty Truman emerges here as unprepared to
formulate serious foreign policy, with his subordinates often at
odds; and despite jingoistic political fulminations and the
progressive eroding of security, Leffler says, there really wasn't
much fear at the top of a hot war between the US and the Soviets.
Rather, the heart of the matter was the US financed revival of free
European and Asian economies. Khrushchev's famous "We will bury
you" was a whistling in the dark, Leffler says: the US had already
forged its "configuration of power in the core of Eurasia."
Indispensable for anyone interested in what really happened during
this period, although Leffler's conclusions may be too optimistic.
"Capitalizing on past successes" seems difficult for a nation that
today probably could not capitalize a Marshall Plan, and stability
via "curtailing arms sales that fuel local rivalries" seems a fond
dream for the world's largest exporter of arms. (Kirkus Reviews)
In the United States the Cold War shaped our political culture, our
institutions, and our national priorities. Abroad, it influenced
the destinies of people everywhere. It divided Europe, split
Germany, and engulfed the Third World. It led to a feverish arms
race and massive sales of military equipment to poor nations. For
at least four decades it left the world in a chronic state of
tension where a miscalculation could trigger nuclear holocaust.
Documents, oral histories, and memoirs illuminating the goals,
motives, and fears of contemporary U.S. officials were already
widely circulated and studied during the Cold War, but in the 1970s
a massive declassification of documents from the Army, Navy, Air
Force, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Department of Defense, and
some intelligence agencies reinvigorated historical study of this
war which became the definitive conflict of its time. While many
historians used these records to explore specialized topics, this
author marshals the considerable available evidence on behalf of an
overall analysis of national security policy during the Truman
years. To date, it is the most comprehensive history of that
administration's progressive embroilment in the Cold War.
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