Evil Empire 21period would be neither “liberal” nor “peaceful,” and that such countries
were likely to “fall, for varying periods, under the influence of Moscow,
whose ideology has a greater lure for such peoples, and probably greater
reality, than anything we could oppose to it... [or that] our people would
ever willingly concede to such a purpose.” In this light, he concluded that
the United States needed to dispense with commitments, rhetorical and
otherwise, to “unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of living
standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going
to have to deal in straight power concepts.”
This view is sometimes depicted as an exemplary instance of realism
—wiser and more in tune with the messy, uneven world that emerged
from World War II—and a point of view that, had it been heeded, may
have prevented the costly overreach of global cold war, especially “blun-
ders” such as the Vietnam War (which Kennan, long retired to academia,
opposed). The concept of realism, however, fails to grasp the functional
logic of risk and threat assessment—the insistent and anxious hedging
and speculation that made the careers and fortunes of Kennan, Forrestal,
and many that followed them. Forrestal fretted obsessively in his diary
along these lines: “I am more impressed than ever as things develop in
the world today that policy may be frequently shaped by events unless
someone has a strong and clear mental grasp of events; strong enough
and clear enough so that he is able to shape policy rather than letting it
be developed by accidents.” This recurrent epistemic anxiety initiated
an insistent demand for anticipatory policy, abiding mistrust, and the
maintenance of a preponderance of force. As Forrestal bluntly put it,
“Power is needed until we are sure of the reign of law.”
Despite his long period of service within a New Deal liberal political
milieu, Forrestal (like Kennan) was disinterested in universalizing the
scope of political self-determination overseas, recognizing as more press-
ing the preservation of a capitalist economy built on uneven development