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Panelists to analyze Kennan's 'Long Telegram,' Feb. 23
Posted February 16, 2006; 10:58 p.m.
A panel discussion on "George F. Kennan's 'Long Telegram'" is set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, in 219 Burr Hall.
Participating will be Princeton faculty members John Ikenberry, Aaron
Friedberg and Stephen Kotkin along with the University of Virginia's
Melvyn Leffler. The event is part of a series, "60 Years Later:
Critical Texts of the 20th Century," celebrating the 60th anniversary
of Kennan's influential early assessment of post-war Soviet conduct and
motives.
Kennan, a 1925 Princeton alumnus, was arguably the leading American
diplomat during the early stages of the Cold War. His famous "Long
Telegram," drafted upon the request of the U.S. State Department in
February 1946, was the origin of the policy of "containment" that
defined America's position toward the Soviet Union for much of the
following two decades.
The panelists, who are experts on American diplomatic history and
international relations, will comment on the historical significance of
the "Long Telegram" and the lessons it might have to offer contemporary
leaders.
The event is sponsored by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies,
the Council of the Humanities, the University Center for Human Values
and the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.