Containment

choi

History of diplomacy |  Dealing With the Enemy; George Kennan invented the American post-war policy of “containment” of the Soviet Union. His biography, 30 years in the making, fills in the detail. Economist, Nov 12, 2011.
http://www.economist.com/node/21538090
(book review on John Lewis Gaddis, George F Kennan: An American Life. Penguin, 2011)

Quote: "The chapter detailing Kennan’s breakthrough—achieved by redesigning American foreign policy at a stroke, via his 5,000-word 'Long Telegram' from Moscow to Washington, DC, in 1946—is particularly gripping. * * * His [Kennan's] arguments convinced the Truman administration that efforts to continue wartime co-operation with Russia were fruitless. America should recognise the Soviet Union as a new kind of enemy, one seeking to destroy 'our traditional way of life.' Rather than fighting a conventional war, America would need to contain Soviet hostility firmly and consistently over the long term.


Note:
(a) George F Kennan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_F._Kennan
(1904-2005; best known as "Father of Containement"; When the US opened diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in 1933 following the election of President Franklin D Roosevelt, Kennan accompanied US ambassador William C Bullitt to Moscow; US ambassador to USSR May 14, 1952-Sept 19, 1952--read section 1.2.5 Ambassador to the Soviet Union about Soviet Union declared him persona non grata; two autobiographies: Memoirs: 1925–1950 (published in 1967) and Memoirs: 1950-1963 (published in 1972))

The Scotish surname Kennan is reduced form of McKennan. The four Scotish surnames--McKennan (the Kennan part), McKenzie (the Kenzie part), Kenneth and Kenny--are all derived from the same Gaelic root Coinneach meaning comely, handsome.

(b) polymath (n; Greek polymathēs very learned, from poly- + manthanein to learn)  
"a person of encyclopedic learning"
www.m-w.com