Background

"Few if any people thought... of the structure of peace that would follow the war except perhaps in the most general terms of friendship, mutual trust, and the other noble sentiments...."
            Walter Lacqueur, 1978

The quote above reflects the attitude regarding American planning after the end of the Second World War.  Many of the considerations that would shape the US security policy were based on these notions.

This environment soon changed to new attitudes in response toward the USSR.  The consideration of the preservation of a favorable balance of power in Eurasia, expanded to include foreign economic assistance and military development, as fundamental to national security impelled defense officials to evaluate constantly Soviet intentions and capabilities.

The reality, however, was much different.  With severe social and economic shortcomings as a result of the Second World War coupled with a lagging reconstruction effort, the Soviet Union was dominated by domestic weakness and insecurity.

With numerous signs of weakness, moderation, restraint, caution and a diplomatic history that suggested the USSR was neither uniformly hostile nor unwilling to negotiate, Soviet behavior hardly justified the policy that followed.