| DOCUMENT 24.1 | | | SIDNEY W. SOUERS, NSC 48 (December 1949) |
By 1946 the Truman administration had settled on a Cold War policy of containment to fight the expansion of communism. While initially a strategy directed toward Europe and the Middle East, containment was also shifted to Asia after China fell to communism. The following selection, from a policy document written by the National Security Council, discusses the Cold War situation in Asia and U.S. goals in the region.
A Report to the President by the National Security Council
WASHINGTON, December 30, 1949. TOP SECRET
NSC 48/2
THE POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES WITH RESPECT TO ASIA
CONCLUSIONS
Our basic security objectives with respect to Asia1 are:
Development of the nations and peoples of Asia on a stable and self-sustaining basis in conformity with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.
Development of sufficient military power in selected non-Communist nations of Asia to maintain internal security and to prevent further encroachment by communism.
Gradual reduction and eventual elimination of the preponderant power and influence of the USSR in Asia to such a degree that the Soviet Union will not be capable of threatening from that area the security of the United States or its friends and that the Soviet Union would encounter serious obstacles should it attempt to threaten the peace, national independence and stability of the Asiatic nations.
Prevention of power relationships in Asia which would enable any other nation or alliance to threaten the security of the United States from that area, or the peace, national independence and stability of the Asiatic nations.
In pursuit of these objectives, the United States should act to:
Support non-Communist forces in taking the initiative in Asia;
Exert an influence to advance its own national interests; and
Initiate action in such a manner as will appeal to the Asiatic nations as being compatible with their national interests and worthy of their support.
Source: Sidney W. Souers, Memorandum by the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Souers) to the National Security Council, December 30, 1949. U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1949v07p2/d386.
Thinking through Sources forExploring American Histories, Volume 2Printed Page 184