Volume XI – Number 2
Jean M. Zawitoski
Abstract: Revisionists correctly highlight that the US, in its interest of creating a freely trading “open door” world, failed to recognize the needs and fears of the Soviet Union. Given that the US enjoyed a position of unprecedented power vis-a-vis the Soviet Union, the US bore the responsibility to explore all possible alternatives to the Cold War. However, the US chose to adopt a hard line policy of containment instead, with the end goal of eliminating communist systems globally, invoking a strong psychological backlash in Soviet leaders. Having been denied American economic assistance, the Soviets were forced to adopt policies to guarantee their freedom of action in vital economic and political spheres. Yet, revisionists fail to equitably attribute Soviet ideology as an influential causal factor for the Cold War, while ironically emphasizing the American political economy as a causal factor. Additionally, revisionists fail to recognize that the US, just as the Soviet Union, had the right to act in its own interests against a potential adversary. Revisionists are unrealistic to think that the Cold War could have been prevented had the US not adopted a policy of containment; however, they did produce a realistic analysis of US global overextension, which hindered domestic policy and national spirit. Overall, both revisionist and orthodox views can be synthesized to understand that the Cold War was a competition between political economic systems, and that the US won due to its adaptability in the face of diverse global issues.
Key Words: Cold War, Historian, Revisionist, Soviet Union, American Imperialism, Communism, Containment, Truman Doctrine, Capitalism, Yalta, Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Stalin, World War II, Mr. X, Open Door, Economic Determinism
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