"...There also seems to me to have been a certain naivete, but nothing worse, in our efforts to bring about a political compromise between these two factions, and to induce Stalin to join us in this effort....". Russia and The West Under Lenin And Stalin, p 374.
Contrary to how Kennan characterizes American blundering re Russia and Asia, there really is nothing worse, nothing, than naivete.
Kennan, himself, elsewhere, even in this very work, bemoans the grave difficulties of grand strategy for a democracy.
I have quoted several of those passages on this blog.... as well as Tocqueville's similar critique of democracy for diplomacy and foreign policy:
Both Republican France and the American Rebels were the laughingstocks of the European Chanceries, for very good reasons.
Contrary to how Kennan characterizes American blundering re Russia and Asia, there really is nothing worse, nothing, than naivete.
Kennan, himself, elsewhere, even in this very work, bemoans the grave difficulties of grand strategy for a democracy.
I have quoted several of those passages on this blog.... as well as Tocqueville's similar critique of democracy for diplomacy and foreign policy:
"Saturday, December 9, 2017
TOCQUEVILLE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA
"A democracy can only with great difficulty regulate the details of an important undertaking, persevere in a fixed design, and work out its execution in spite of serious obstacles." "
Both Republican France and the American Rebels were the laughingstocks of the European Chanceries, for very good reasons.
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