The Foreign Service Journal, February 2004

begun before Mr. “X” became known to the readers of Foreign Affairs. Well before “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” appeared in print, containment — as most people even- tually came to understand it — received notable applica- tion, first in Iran in 1946 and then in Greece and Turkey early in 1947. In the latter instance, Kennan played a tangential role and unsuccessfully objected to the sweep- ing language of the message drafted for President Truman to deliver to Congress on March 12, 1947, as well as to some of the specific actions it proposed. In The Fifteen Weeks , a standard account of the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan, Joseph Jones wryly noted the irony of Kennan, considered “the mastermind of the policy of containment,” objecting to what appeared to be a major manifestation of that approach. A New Planning Unit As Truman spoke in Washington, his Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, engaged in difficult negoti- ations with the Soviet Union at the Moscow Council of Foreign Ministers meeting. There, Marshall deter- mined that “the Soviets were doing everything possible to achieve a complete breakdown in Europe.” He per- ceived that the Soviet Union was not content to consol- idate its East European empire but hoped to take advantage of the dislocation and desperation of Western Europe. On April 28, 1947, Marshall arrived back in Washington. The very next day he called Kennan to his office and instructed him to return to the State Department immediately to establish a new plan- ning unit, the Policy Planning Staff. Referring to the deplorable state of Europe, he directed Kennan and the staff, which was still to be assembled, to address this problem and to make recommendations within two weeks. To Kennan’s entreaty for more guidance he advised in distinctive fashion: “Avoid trivia. “ George Kennan relished the challenge that his move to the center of policy-making presented. He approached his new work gravely: one senses that he F O C U S 26 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 4