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→Containment
Washington decided on a strategy of containment, as embodied in the the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] ('''NATO''') military alliance set up in 1949. The [[NSC-68]] was a secret 1950 plan adopted at the highest levels of the American government to set the overall strategy. A further step was taken in 1951 with the establishment of the Mutual Security Agency to coordinate U.S. economic, technical and military aid abroad.
Washington decided on a strategy of containment, as embodied in the the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] ('''NATO''') military alliance set up in 1949. The [[NSC-68]] was a secret 1950 plan adopted at the highest levels of the American government to set the overall strategy. A further step was taken in 1951 with the establishment of the Mutual Security Agency to coordinate U.S. economic, technical and military aid abroad.
The basic goal of containment was to prevent further Communist expansion, hoping that the internal weaknesses of the Soviet system would soon lead to its collapse. The problem with containment was that it meant fighting wars against Communist expansion, especially in Korea in 1950-53, and in Vietnam 1963-73. Containment had the basic flaw that the enemy could choose the time and place of movement, while America and its allies had to defend everywhere at all times. In 1949 [[Mao ZeDong]] and his Communists won the civil war in China showing the failure of containment in Asia.
The basic goal of containment was to prevent further Communist expansion, hoping that the internal weaknesses of the Soviet system would soon lead to its collapse. The problem with containment was that it meant fighting wars against Communist expansion, especially in Korea in 1950-53, and in Vietnam 1963-73. Containment had the basic flaw that the enemy could choose the time and place of movement, while America and its allies had to defend everywhere at all times. In 1949 [[Mao Zedong]] and his Communists won the civil war in China showing the failure of containment in Asia.
===Korean War: 1950-1953===
===Korean War: 1950-1953===