Saturday, December 17, 2011
Remembering George Kennan
After reading reviews here and here and here of John Lewis Gaddis’s new biography on George Kennan, I finally got around to reading Kennan’s famous ‘X article’ outlining the Cold War strategy of containment and its likely outcome if the U.S. held firm. From beginning to end, the essay, written in 1947, is the work of brilliance – a brilliance that was ultimately confirmed by how history played out. Kennan didn’t just outline how and why the Soviet Union needed to be contained. He outlined how and why the Soviet Union would ultimately collapse. …
Much is being made about Kennan’s own “ultra conservative” and “almost monarchist” political views, suggesting he was no big fan of American democracy and destiny. He was definitely an elitist and highly skeptical about whether America had the will and wisdom to act as an effective world leader. But this is how he concluded his famous ‘X’ essay:
FYI: I can't remember if I've ever read the 'X' essay in its entirety before. Probably not. I definitely knew about it and read about it -- and read portions of it over the years.
After reading reviews here and here and here of John Lewis Gaddis’s new biography on George Kennan, I finally got around to reading Kennan’s famous ‘X article’ outlining the Cold War strategy of containment and its likely outcome if the U.S. held firm. From beginning to end, the essay, written in 1947, is the work of brilliance – a brilliance that was ultimately confirmed by how history played out. Kennan didn’t just outline how and why the Soviet Union needed to be contained. He outlined how and why the Soviet Union would ultimately collapse. …
Much is being made about Kennan’s own “ultra conservative” and “almost monarchist” political views, suggesting he was no big fan of American democracy and destiny. He was definitely an elitist and highly skeptical about whether America had the will and wisdom to act as an effective world leader. But this is how he concluded his famous ‘X’ essay:
The issue of Soviet-American relations is in essence a test of the overall worth of the United States as a nation among nations. To avoid destruction the United States need only measure up to its own best traditions and prove itself worthy of preservation as a great nation.There's a hearty dose of idealism in those words, mixed with stern realism, suggesting reviewers may be focusing a little too much on Kennan's gloomy elitism.
Surely, there was never a fairer test of national quality than this. In the light of these circumstances, the thoughtful observer of Russian-American relations will find no cause for complaint in the Kremlin's challenge to American society. He will rather experience a certain gratitude to a Providence which, by providing the American people with this implacable challenge, has made their entire security as a nation dependent on their pulling themselves together and accepting the responsibilities of moral and political leadership that history plainly intended them to bear.
FYI: I can't remember if I've ever read the 'X' essay in its entirety before. Probably not. I definitely knew about it and read about it -- and read portions of it over the years.
