‘NSC 68 and the Soviet Threat: A New Perspective on Western Threat Perception and Policy Making’

Heuser, B. (1991) ‘NSC 68 and the Soviet Threat: A New Perspective on Western Threat Perception and Policy Making’. Review of International Studies , 17 (1). pp. 17-40.

Abstract/Summary

It has been argued that the US strategy paper NSC 68 of 1950 which ushered in the great Cold War rearmament process first in the US and then in NATO was a vast overreaction. This paper argues, by contrast, that given the intelligence about the Soviet Union's and its satellites' military buildup and the role of China in that period, this was a reasonable strategy to embrace.