
George Kennan's “Long Telegram” (1946) - maverick_iceman
http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/coldwar/documents/episode-1/kennan.htm
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pratheekrebala
If you enjoyed this, please do read Nikolai Novikov's (then Soviet Ambassador
to the US) analysis of US Foreign Policy in a similar fashion, but from the
perspective of the USSR. The Novikov Telegram (1946) is considered the soviet
equivalent of George Kennan's Long Telegram.

[http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/110808.pdf?v...](http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/110808.pdf?v=c46f797bf3d939c2c328ac98eb778f09)

~~~
mturmon
Kennan stressed the paranoia of the Soviet leadership. In the telegram you
linked, you read things like:

"All these facts clearly show that their armed forces are designed to play a
decisive role in the realization of plans to establish American world
domination."

If viewed slantwise, this has a nugget of truth, i.e., the U.S. is
establishing forward military bases partly to protect free trade and enable
capitalism.

But these bases proved to be almost entirely defensive and were not really
used for "world domination" in the sense meant by the Soviet ambassador.

~~~
pratheekrebala
The document vindicates a lot of the analysis that Kennan makes in his
article. However, we do have to acknowledge the outlook that drove the party
line. Among the recipients of this telegram were Stalin and Molotov (then
Minister of Foreign Affairs), which I think would explain some of the extreme
rhetoric here. Also note, that unlike the Kennan Telegram (which was published
in Foreign Affairs under the pseudonym "Mr. X") the Novikov telegram wasn't
meant for public consumption. It was part of the Glasnost files which came out
in the 90s.

That being said, from the Soviet perspective, the United States -- during
"peace time", had rapidly increased military spending and presence around the
world. This only goes in to feed the "neurotic" world view that Kennan cited
in his article.

 _" At bottom of Kremlin's neurotic view of world affairs is traditional and
instinctive Russian sense of insecurity. Originally, this was insecurity of a
peaceful agricultural people trying to live on vast exposed plain in
neighborhood of fierce nomadic peoples. To this was added, as Russia came into
contact with economically advanced West, fear of more competent, more
powerful, more highly organized societies in that area. But this latter type
of insecurity was one which afflicted rather Russian rulers than Russian
people; for Russian rulers have invariably sensed that their rule was
relatively archaic in form fragile and artificial in its psychological
foundation, unable to stand comparison or contact with political systems of
Western countries. For this reason they have always feared foreign
penetration, feared direct contact between Western world and their own, feared
what would happen if Russians learned truth about world without or if
foreigners learned truth about world within. And they have learned to seek
security only in patient but deadly struggle for total destruction of rival
power, never in compacts and compromises with it."_

~~~
oxymoron
Kennan's telegram wasn't published. It was written by Kennan to impress his
understanding on Truman as he took office. The X article was a separate piece
of writing.

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onetwotree
This is still relevant today. As Kennan points out, Marxism was a mere "moral
fig leaf" covering the nakedness of "insecure nationalism".

The fig leaf seems to have been replaced in the era of Putin by a sort of
generalized disdain for the west, and for western ideas like democracy and
liberalism (in the sense of the word used in Europe, not the US).

But nothing ever really changes for the Russian state. Putin's Russia can be
described and understood in the same terms as Soviet Russia and Czarist Russia
before it.

I'll end by pointing out, again, as Kennan does, that I'm referring to the
Russian state, rather than its long suffering people, who are some of the most
warm hearted and genuine folks I've ever met.

~~~
idlewords
You can draw parallels between autocratic periods in Russian history, but then
you lose everything that's interesting and end up with a kind of cartoon.

Even in Soviet times, when the ruling class was tied into the straitjacket of
Marxist ideology, there were large shifts in foreign policy and attitude
towards the outside world as different factions assumed power.

Russia has a complicated relationship with the West that is not well served by
a simplistic reading of its history.

~~~
woodandsteel
I think you are correct in that for a long time many in Russia looked to the
West for culture and even political ideas. Unfortunately, Soviet communism's
explicit goal was to overthrow liberalism, and Putin is hardly any more
friendly.

~~~
onetwotree
It goes back and forth. There's a constant tension in Russia's history between
the West and "East", used in this context to mean an essentially anti-western
turn.

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pm90
It should be noted that later in life Keenan was distraught by the extreme
anti-communist hysteria and need for containment that was inspired by his
telegram and general foreign policy views [0]. It seems that postwar US was
much more cordial and trusting of the Soviet Union but quickly swung to other
side as it became clear that Stalin was interested only in grabbing as much
land as possible to form a sizeable buffer between Russia and western Europe.
Which seems reasonable: German forces had reached the outskirts of Moscow and
an unbelievable number of Russians died in the war.

I highly highly recommend the Wise Men [1].

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_F._Kennan#Academic_care...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_F._Kennan#Academic_career_and_later_life)
[1]: [https://www.amazon.com/Wise-Men-Friends-World-
They/dp/147672...](https://www.amazon.com/Wise-Men-Friends-World-
They/dp/1476728828)

~~~
MrZongle2
_"...as it became clear that Stalin was interested only in grabbing as much
land as possible to form a sizeable buffer between Russia and western Europe.
Which seems reasonable: German forces had reached the outskirts of Moscow and
an unbelievable number of Russians died in the war._"

Wanting a buffer does seem reasonable, and you are correct that Russia
suffered considerably during WW2.

But _what Russia did_ with that buffer, and the countries therein, is a
damning indictment of Communism.

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cafard
Most interesting, thank you for posting. Kennan in his memoirs remarked that
timing was a large part of its influence: a bit earlier and it would have been
ignored, a bit later and it would have seemed obvious.

Kennan's memoirs and histories are interesting and well written. Those wishing
for a taste might have a look at _Sketches from a Life_ , which is relatively
short and still in print.

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azernik
This was most of the Cablegate leaks - not scandals, but these kinds of peeks
into the opinions of very smart State Department officials regarding assorted
foreign countries. (The scandals usually involved foreign allies that the
State Department doesn't think too highly of, like many of the Arab
dictatorships that soon after experienced the Arab Spring.)

~~~
walshemj
A British Ambassador leaving his post was encouraged to write what was known
as a valedictory despatch, to be circulated to a small number of influential
people in government. This was the parting shot, an opportunity to offer a
personal and frank view of the host country, the manners and morals of its
people, their institutions, the state of their cooking and their drains. But
it was also a chance to let rip at the Foreign Office itself and to look back
on a career spent in the service of a sometimes ungrateful nation.

They where normally quite blunt there is a great book collating some of the
best [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parting-Shots-Matthew-
Parris/dp/067...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parting-Shots-Matthew-
Parris/dp/0670919292)

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hguant
We talked about this telegram in one of my classes in college - American
Nuclear Politics. The professor, who had been in the Foreign Service for
20-odd years before moving to academia, had a (somewhat) joking theory that
Kennan's Long Telegram had done more harm than good, because it inspired
countless other Foreign Service Officers to write Long Telegrams of their own
in the hopes of having similar levels of influence.

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curtis
Some context for the "Long Telegram" can be found here:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Article)

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fierycatnet
Here is an interview with Kennan that puts certain things in perspective in
post-Cold War era.

[http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/02/opinion/foreign-affairs-
no...](http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/02/opinion/foreign-affairs-now-a-word-
from-x.html)

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khnd
if you're interested in this stuff, also check out "nsc 68", which is the
actual policy material this stuff evolved into. then also the latest
reincarnation of all this, "rebuilding america's defenses" by project for new
american century.

