The Korean War changed the face of American Cold War diplomacy forever. In the midst of all the political conflict and speculation worldwide, the nation had to choose between two proposed solutions, each one hoping to ensure that communism didn?t sweep across the globe and destroy American ideals of capitalism and democracy. General Douglas MacArthur takes the pro-active stance and says that, assuming it has the capability, the U.S. should attack communism everywhere. President Harry Truman, on the other hand, believed that containing the Soviet communists from Western Europe was the best and most important course of action, and that eliminating communism in Asia was not a priority. The question was whether the USA should pursue the same policy regarding communism in the Far East as in Europe, or should it concentrate on making sure that the Soviets couldn?t expand westward? Despite being a little too optimistic, MacArthur?s decisive policy addressed the global threat of communism better because it acknowledged that the U.S. shouldn?t just ignore one communist sector of the world, and because it recognized that we should eliminate an enemy that we are inevitably bound to come into conflict with.Analysis of Truman?s PolicyTruman?s approach to Cold War politics was practical and logical, but it was too reactionary by nature. Truman failed to see that it was inevitable for the U.S. to eventually fight against the Soviets; in fact, one Soviet diplomat even said this himself as a rationalization for seizing more lands. The Truman Administration clearly realized that the Soviets had engaged in a struggle for power, a Cold War, so why then didn?t Truman do everything in his power to eliminate this threat to national security?As always, the situation isn?t so black and white. Truman and his advisers saw Western Europe to be the key to the world?s power, and so they concentrated their efforts in order that Western Europe get back on it...
