George F. Kennan
George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennanwas an American diplomat and historian. He was known best as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War on which he later reversed himself. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly histories of the relations between USSR and the United States. He was also one of the group of foreign policy elders known as "The Wise Men"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth16 February 1904
CountryUnited States of America
George F. Kennan quotes about
coercion natural instruments
Instruments of coercion, once created, have a tendency to find their own natural masters.
public-opinion opinion force
Public opinion, or what passes for public opinion, is not invariably a moderating force in the jungle of politics.
tissues world communism
World communism is like [a] malignant parasite which feeds on diseased tissue
time guests members
A guest of one's time and not a member of the household.
eyebrows want best-things
The best thing we can do if we want the Russians to let us be Americans is to let the Russians be Russian.
mistake principles doctrine
A doctrine is something that pins you down to a given mode of conduct and dozens of situations which you cannot foresee, which is a great mistake in principle. When the word 'containment' was used in my 'X' article, it was used with relation to a certain situation then prevailing, and as a response to it.
seductive childhood promise
I lived, particularly in childhood but with lessening intensity right on to middle age, in a world that was peculiarly and intimately my own, scarcely to be shared with others or even made plausible to them. I habitually read special meanings into things, scenes and places qualities of wonder, beauty, promise, or horror for which there was no external evidence visible or plausible to others. My world was peopled with mysteries, seductive hints, vague menaces, "intimations of immortality.
russia understanding mind
Bearing all this in mind, we see that there is no Russian national understanding which would permit the early establishment in Russia of anything resembling the private enterprise system as we know it.
procedures figs democratic
Fig leaves of democratic procedure to hide the nakedness of Stalinist dictatorship.