Editing X Article (section)

{{short description|1947 anti-communist article by American diplomat George F. Kennan}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[Image:George F. Kennan 1947.jpg|thumb|[[George F. Kennan]] in 1947, the same year ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'' published his piece "The Sources of Soviet Conduct" under the pseudonym "X"]]
{{Wikisource|The Long Telegram}}
{{Wikisource|The Sources of Soviet Conduct}}

The "'''X Article'''" is an article, formally titled "'''The Sources of Soviet Conduct'''", written by [[George F. Kennan]] and published under the [[pseudonym]] "X" in the July 1947 issue of ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'' magazine. It introduced the term "[[containment]]" to widespread use and advocated the strategic use of that concept against the [[Soviet Union]]. It expanded on ideas expressed by Kennan in a confidential February 1946 telegram, formally identified by Kennan's [[State Department]] number, "'''511'''", but informally dubbed the "'''long telegram'''" for its size.

Kennan composed the long telegram in response to inquiries about the implications of a February 1946 speech by [[Joseph Stalin]].{{refn |group=note|name=speech|In Kennan's memoirs, he writes that the telegram was a reply to the [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Department]]'s "anguished cry of bewilderment" at the Soviet Union's refusal to join the [[International Monetary Fund]] and [[World Bank]], despite having participated in the [[Bretton Woods Conference]] organizing both institutions.<ref name="Kennan 1983">{{harvnb|Kennan|1983}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Gaddis|2011|p=216}}.</ref> The historian [[John Lewis Gaddis]] provided the same explanation in his earliest books and lectures,{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=718n40}} including in his 1997 book ''We Now Know'',{{sfn|Gaddis|1997|p=193}} but in his 2011 biography of Kennan he instead described this explanation as an "error";{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=718n40}} Kennan provided a separate explainer on the Soviet refusal to join the IMF and World Bank in January 1946, before he published the "long telegram" in February.{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=216}}}} Though the speech was in line with previous statements by Stalin, it provoked fear in the American press and public; ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine called it "the most warlike pronouncement uttered by any top-rank statesman since [[Victory over Japan Day|V-J Day]]".{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=227}} The long telegram explained Soviet motivations by recounting the history of Russian rulers as well as the ideology of [[Marxism–Leninism]]. It argued that the Soviet leaders used the ideology to characterize the external world as hostile, allowing them to justify their continued hold on power despite a lack of popular support. Washington bureaucrats quickly read the confidential message and accepted it as the best explanation of Soviet behavior. The reception elevated Kennan's reputation within the State Department as one of the government's foremost Soviet experts.

After hearing Kennan speak about Soviet foreign relations at the [[Council on Foreign Relations]] in January 1947, international banker [[R. Gordon Wasson]] suggested that he share his views in an article for ''Foreign Affairs''. Kennan revised a piece he had submitted to [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] [[James Forrestal]] in late January 1947, but his role in government precluded him from publishing under his name. His superiors granted him approval to publish the piece provided it was released anonymously; ''Foreign Affairs'' attributed the article only to "X". Expressing similar sentiments to that of the long telegram, the piece was strong in its [[anti-communism]], introducing and outlining a basic theory of containment. The article was widely read; though it does not mention the [[Truman Doctrine]], having mostly been written before Truman's speech, it quickly became seen as an expression of the doctrine's policy. Retrospective commentators dispute the impact of the article, although [[Henry Kissinger]] referred to it as "the diplomatic doctrine of the era".<ref name="Kissinger 1979 135">{{harvnb|Kissinger|1979|p=135}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Gaddis|2011|p=249}}.</ref>

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