s affairs as long as no one interfered with theirs. With the Truman Doctrine, we completely reversed that role that had been only briefly breached during the World Wars. The new American policy was one of Containment: to contain the spread of Communism to the states in which it presently inhabits. The relationship with the U.S.S.R. after Truman's declaration was in constant decline. It can be argued that the containment in Asia did not work. However, the later has a valid argument. The containment was successful, because it kept the communism where it was and impeded upon the communist spread. One might say that it was wrong for the United States to send solders to parts of the world to try to keep the peace, when all they were really after was to protect the United States. The Truman Doctrine has impacted everyone in the U.S. and nearly every country in the world since its declaration in 1947. There were some castigations: Critics blamed involvement in Korea and Vietnam on the Truman Doctrine. Without the Doctrine . . . the U.S. might have minded its own business. (McCullough, 571) While other critics argue: Truman was trying to restore the European Balance of Power and had neither the intention nor the capability of policing the world. (McCullough, 571) He may not have had that intention, but that was exactly the doctrine's effect. All over the world U.S. troops sit waiting to protect democracy. The Truman Doctrine ensures that even without a valid threat to U.S. security, it has a right to protect the free peoples of the World....
