The Tragedies of American Foreign Policy: Further Reflections

Cox and Kennedy-Pipe offer a staunch defense of their article, arguing that the commentators generally missed the point of what the article was supposed to accomplish. Rather than providing an exhaustive account of the early Cold War and all the complications posed by Germany, the article sought to distill the essence of U.S. and Soviet strategies. The basic problem, as highlighted in the article, is that the United States would not accept the extension of Soviet influence into Eastern Europe and that, in opposing and seeking to roll back Soviet influence, U.S. officials sealed the fate of the East European countries.