"containment" Strategy Revisited: From Carter To Bush - United States During The Cold War National Security Strategy Research (1977.1-1991.12)

This Paper mainly carries out the relevant re-examination and research for U.S. national security strategy during the 1977-1991 years on the basis of U.S. foreign literature (American Foreign Policy: Current Documents), U.S. National Security Strategy Report (American Security Strategy) and the Carter, Reagan and Bush administration's State of the Union (The State of the Union) and other related documents. It thinks: Although the"containment"for the Soviet Union is still the main line of the U.S. National Security Strategy during this period, the"containment"strategy after the"alleviation"policy Nixon administration can not summarize all content of the U.S. National Security Strategy. Whether from the definition of threat, interests and goals, or from the basic content and the resources and means to achieve strategy, U.S. national security strategy for this period have been beyond the basic framework of containing the Soviet Union.The U.S. national security strategy during the Carter administration originated with"world order strategy"and ended by"Carter Doctrine".This change has not only to do with the Soviet invasion for Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf crisis, but also is determined by the differences and disputes within the administration, the domestic impact of the neo-conservative forces, the competition, struggle and strife of the domestic political forces (interest groups) and domestic public opinion of the United States. The implementation of the"World Order Strategy"makes the democracy, human rights agenda, and the relationship between the Third World countries become essential content of the U.S. national security strategy, meanwhile the pursue for the concept of the"relative security"has gradually been built in the U.S. National Security Strategy.But the fact that the"world order strategy"is replaced by the"Carter Doctrine"reflects the swing of U.S. national security strategy between the asymmetry response and symmetrical response.The most significant and remarkable feature of the U.S. National Security Strategy during the Reagan administration is undoubtedly the "anti-Soviet military expansion, revitalization national prestige". Comparable with the Carter administration National Security Strategy, it has the clear inheritance and difference. From the perspective of the effect on the strategic implementation, the U.S. democracy offensive for the majority of the third world and the socialist camp led by the Soviet is undoubtedly successful, the"Strategic Defense Initiative"and other relevant defense agenda also largely reverses the passive situation in the course of US-Soviet global gamble since 1970's, but the economic policy toward the Soviet Union under the goal of wearing the Soviet bloc's economic base has a relatively limited impact. Comparable to the previous government's security strategy, the U.S. National Security Strategy during the Reagan administration has essential differences. It no longer alternates in two strategic paths of the"symmetrical response"and"asymmetric response", but to a large extent combines the advantages of the two response patterns.The U.S. national security strategy of Bush administration originated with the"beyond containment"strategy and ended by"world new order"policy ideas. This Change has to do with the collapse in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the Gulf crisis and is determined by the emergence of the new political and economic thought, the decline of conservative political forces and the formation of the"new political alliances"of Democratic Party and the emergence of the domestic political elite of new generation. The implementation of"Beyond containment"strategy is the key variables of leading to the collapse in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. It not only points out the strategic basis of national security strategy for successive governments in the period of the post-Cold War, but also from a fundamentally reverses the reality that the military agenda of U.S. national security strategy is dominant.U.S. National Security Strategy is a comprehensive strategy. From a macro perspective, the change of U.S. national security strategy is mainly reflected in the identification and definition of the threats, interests and objectives, the priorities and sequence of different agendas, the thought of national security and the strategic methods and responding modes. The invariability of U.S. National Security Strategy is mainly betrayed in the Cold War rhetoric based on the ideology, the inherent geo-political traditions, the institutional elements of strategy design and implementation and the balance of strategic resources allocation. From the microscopic point of view, the formation of U.S. national security strategy includes five basic elements; it is external factors (ie system factors), social factors, governmental factors, the role factors and personal factors. From the perspective of international political theory, I believe that the power, structure, system, culture (identity) is the four basic variables of understanding and analyzing U.S. national security strategy.