American National Security Policy

Avoid severe rift with the Soviet Union By aggravating Soviet fears and anxieties, the US might foster a response of Soviet expansion and, thus, Soviet dominance in Eurasia as a means of increasing defense capabilities. By following a policy of self-restraint, American behavior may be reciprocated and allow for time for Western Europe to recover and for the British to reassert some influence over Eurasia.

Prevent Soviet hegemony in Eurasia If Eurasia came under Soviet dominance, America's only potential adversary would lay claim to enormous potentials that had serious military and security advancement implications for the Soviet Union. Soviet Union would gain enormous natural resources, industrial potential, and manpower Aid Soviet economic recovery Enhance war-making capability through the control of the Ruhr-Rhineland industrial complex Ability to deny goods, minerals, and oil to Western Europe through predominance of the region's resources Undermine prospective U.S. naval blockade and allow USSR to achieve "defense in depth" through attainment of outlying bases in Western Europe and the Middle East and the neutralization of Great Britain as a countermeasure Maintaining American access and dominance of economic relationships with Eurasia was necessary for the development of trading relations and economic growth within the United States as well as for the security purpose of denying any adversary the benefits and resources of Eurasia.