The Moscow Embassy of George Kennan and American Diplomacy in the Cold War

Abstract

This paper studies the operations of the Embassy of the United States of America in Moscow headed by G. F. Kennan (May — September 1952) in the context of Cold War diplomatic history. Based on an analysis of documents located in the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, this study focuses on such key international issues as peaceful settlement of the Korean war, resolution of the German issue, and the signing of a treaty protecting fur seals in the Pacific basin. This article highlights the role of the American Embassy in Moscow, and of Ambassador Kennan in particular, in the discussion of these issues, and the nature of the embassy staff members’ interactions with Soviet authorities. The archival materials concerning the Soviet-American relations in 1952 provide clear evidence that the diplomatic corps faced severe difficulties under the conditions of military and political confrontation of the Cold War. The paper also elucidates the reasons for declaring Kennan persona non grata. Finally, the author considers the influence of the Moscow ambassadorship on Kennan’s perception of communism and the Soviet social system. He became convinced not only of the Soviet political system’s bureaucratic inertia and clumsiness, its excessive centralization, and its total focus on Stalin’s personality, but also of the extreme straightforwardness and uncompromising nature of American foreign policy towards the Soviet Union.