Discussion Questions
September 23, 2015

1. Why is the Truman Doctrine considered to be one of the most important documents which defines American foreign policy in the post-WWII period?
2. What is the relationship between foreign policy and domestic policy in the United States in the 1950s?
3. Based on the readings, to what extent did the government "legitimately believe" that it was threatened during the cold war?  What was that belief based on?
4. Based on the readings and Atomic Cafe, what was America's perception of itself?  Of communism?  Of the Soviet Union?
5. What was the importance of Asia in American foreign policy considerations?
6. According to Chafe, "the animosity of  postwar Soviet-American relations drew on a deep reservoir of deep mutual distrust".  What was the basis of that deep distrust?
7. What were the major issues contributing to the causation of the Cold War?  Why was Poland a particularly contentious issue?