Editing Containment (section)

{{Short description|American Cold War foreign policy against the spread of communism}}
{{About|the United States policy}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[File:Stop Communism - NARA - 5730080.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[United States Information Agency|United States Information Service]] propaganda poster distributed in Asia depicting [[Juan dela Cruz]] ready to defend the [[Philippines]] from the threat of [[communism]]]]

'''Containment''' was a [[Geopolitics|geopolitical]] strategic foreign policy pursued by the [[United States]] during the [[Cold War]] to prevent the spread of [[communism]] after the end of [[World War II]]. The name was loosely related to the term ''[[Cordon sanitaire (international relations)|cordon sanitaire]]'', which was containment of the [[Soviet Union]] in the [[interwar period]].

Containment represented a middle-ground position between [[détente]] (relaxation of relations) and [[rollback]] (actively replacing a regime). The basis of the [[doctrine]] was articulated in a [[Long Telegram|1946 cable]] by U.S. diplomat [[George F. Kennan]] during the post-[[World War II]] term of U.S. President [[Harry S. Truman]]. As a description of [[Foreign policy of the United States|U.S. foreign policy]], the word originated in a report Kennan submitted to US Defense Secretary [[James Forrestal]] in 1947, which was later used in a ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'' article.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kennan) |first=“X” (George F. |date=1947-07-01 |title=The Sources of Soviet Conduct |language=en-US |work=Foreign Affairs |issue=July 1947 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/node/1112961 |access-date=2023-06-07 |issn=0015-7120}}</ref>

In a broader context, the term is employed to denote a strategy designed to limit or hinder an opponent's capacity for international [[power projection]]. [[China]] used this term to characterize the United States' efforts [[Second Cold War|to impede its global ascent]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=The A to Z of international relations |language=en |work=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/international-relations-a-to-z |access-date=2023-11-27}}</ref>