George Frost Kennan was an American diplomat and historian. He wrote a “Long Telegram” in 1946 about Moscow policy. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He said that the Soviet regime was inherently expansionist and that its influence had to be “contained” in areas of vital strategic importance to the United States.
Soviet power, unlike that of Hitlerite Germany, is neither schematic nor adventuristic. It does not work by fixed plans. It does not take unnecessary risks. Impervious to the logic of reason, and it is highly sensitive to the logic of force. For this reason, it can easily withdraw — and usually does – when strong resistance is encountered at any point.
Thus, if the adversary has sufficient force and makes clear his readiness to use it, he rarely has to do so.
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