AFP NOTES 3/20

Lecture 15: Eisenhower, Brinksmanship, and Rollback, 1953-1961

Eisenhower (1953-61)
in office during the real crux of the cold war
basic agenda was to differentiate himself from truman
-extremely popular when he entered office

SoS John Foster Dulles (1953-58)
Right-hand-man of eisenhower
DEDICATED cold warrior
-even refused to shake the hand of the chinese foreign minister
attacks the truman administration
-especially attacks CONTAINMENT
-abandons millions to live under the terrible rule of communism
-new plan- ROLLBACK
The New Look
eisenhower administration's new approach to foreign policy
these were the precepts
Massive Retaliation
Liberation
Asymmetric Response
International system is ruled by LAW, soviets and communism operate OUTSIDE the law
-Eisenhower is more realist
-american need to ensure at MINIMUM free trade
-communism harms free trade, must be destroyed
the asymmetric response meant to meet force with OVERWHELMING force
-reply to aggression in ways calculated to play to american strengths, not on the enemy terms

Eisenhower pointed out the limits of massive retaliation
-one problem was SUBVERSION
-there's no countering military force there
-long term 'liberation can only come by peaceful means'
Deterrence was KEY for Dulles' strategy
-communists have to believe that the US will be willing to use every available option to counter, including nuclear
A) Excessive Reliance on Nuclear Deterrence
one main critique of Eisenhower administration
3 reasons that eisenhower favored nuclear deterrence
-economic
-tactical
-strategic
eisenhower was a huge fiscal conservative
-was afraid that if budget wasnt balanced and military-industrial complex wasnt kept in control, US would become a GARRISON STATE
-was afraid that deficit spending and massive military spending was taking money away from social spending
-key point here was to reject NSC 68- the US can spend up to 20% more of GDP on arms
-military spending actually DECREASED during his time in office (69.5% to 50.8% in 7 years)
was only willing to commit ground forces to 'brushfire wars'
-small wars, nothing like korea
-participation in small wars is 'primarily a job for the navy and air force'
-anything bigger than a small conflict is a job for nuclear weapons
-army actually shrank from 1.5 to 1 million men
-continued to warn against the 'military-industrial complex'

NSC 162/2
'in the event of hostility on the parts of the ussr and china, the US will consider nuclear weapons as a legitimate tactical response'
-there's no difference between nukes and just really big bombs
-atomic weapons become akin to conventional weapons
-they've achieved 'conventional status'
-eisenhower is willing to use them even in limited wars
the reason for this was to counter soviet aggression in europe
-the only real way to counter the massive red army in europe was to use battlefield tactical nuclear weapons
May 9, 1955, Germany joins NATO
-now american defense perimeter is right up against soviet perimeter
May 14, 1955, Warsaw pact is signed
War games were conducted by NATO, it was determined that 171 nukes would have to be launched at the soviets to finish the war
Brinksmanship
'the ability to go to the verge without moving into war'
-the system only works if BOTH SIDES are willing to move up to the very edge
-deterrence is ensured in this way
-eisenhower is big on this
-ended korean war in this way, at least partially
-threatened to use nukes, we win gg noobs
April 3, 1954
-Dulles meets with congress, asks for permission to enter the war in vietnam
-makes the 'domino theory' speech
-eisenhower was prepared to intervene on two conditions
-french promised full independence after communism was beat back
-uk entered as well
-US is essentially the only reason the french are still in indochina
-US is paying 75% of the costs of the french war in indochina
-french are losing pretty bad, pinned down at Dien Bien Phu
-eisenhower was considering dropping 3 tactical nukes around the fortress to kill the communist forces, rejects the idea
-eisenhower was aware that if ANY American forces were committed to indochina, then they would HAVE TO WIN
-american prestige is at stake at that point
-then, french collapse at Dien Bien Phu, they lose the war
-indochina's split into cambodia, laos, and vietnam
-north and south vietnam split apart
-north becomes communist, south is not
-US immediately begins funneling money and military advisors into south vietnam
-idea was to set up a proxy state in s.vietnam
-hopefully they'd make another south korea

Quemoy and Matsu
real issue is still china
-nationalists are still holed up in taiwan
-at these two islands, the nationalists decided to make a stand
-daring the commies to take the islands back
-jan 24, 1955 eisenhower asks congress for permission to deploy forces to defend taiwan and taiwanese interests
-was afraid that if he went through the whole congressional process in the event of chinese aggression, it'd be too late
-congress agrees, gives the presidency a blank check for the first time
-this is just a nod to the fact that diplomacy and military strategy unfolds too fast for congress
-this was the CLOSEST the US came to launch a preemptive war
-problem here was that the only real method of defending the islands was to use nuclear weapons
administration has done everything possible to strip away the boundary between conventional and nuclear weapons
-there are issues with this, however
-applicability
-who's gonna be happy with the US if they go around killing mass numbers of people?
-feasibility (NUTS- nuclear utilization and target selection)
-is it actually possible to fight a nuclear war without it becoming a full scale war?
B) Third World Revolution
eisenhower essentially fumbles the new third world revolutions
-another big critique of the eisenhower administration
throughout the third world, states were demanding independence from colonial powers
-european colonial powers start withdrawing from the third world
administration response:
-psychological operations
-trying to bring them onto the US side
-bribery
-US steps up 'foreign aid' to all these new nations
-covert operations
-brand new arena in US international action
-the new CIA comes to the forefront

problem here was that eisenhower never really articulated or decided any policy with regards to these new states
-would the US ally itself with ANY state willing to ally with US goals, regardless of form of government?
-would the US only push away communist regimes?

Allen Dulles
CIA expands HUGELY
-brother of John Foster Dulles
-gets a new mission statement under eisenhower
new, more aggressive strategy
Coups are now supported
-failed coups include Indonesia in 1958, and cuba in 1960, again in 61
Guerilla action sponsored
-vs china, N. vietnam
Assassination attempts
-huge list of people
-'bureau of health alteration'
-thats just the funniest thing in the fucking world
-attempts:
-zhou enlai of china
-Patrice Lumumba of the congo (shittiest place ever. fuck the belgians, apparently)
-rafael trujillo
-fidel castro (failed a bunch of times)
International spy network was ramped up
domestic infiltration
-any domestic organization that might be a threat
-under the charter, it's technically not allowed to operate on US soil

Operation Ajax, Iran - Mossadegh
Huge success for the CIA
spheres of influence were established
-russians and british
-british basically were there for oil
Mossadegh took power 1951
-agenda was nationalization
-wanted to take over the british oilfields
-british appealed the the US for aid
CIA begins a huge disinformation campaign
-paints mossadegh as an agent for communist expansion
-not true, was an iranian nationalist
-iranians HATE russia. idiots
-US policy was shifted on the basis of suspected communist ties on the part of Mossadegh
-restored power to the Shah
Operation Success, Guatemala - Arbenz
another huge success for the CIA
1951- Arbenz took office
-most of guatemala was controlled by foreign corporations
-big one was 'united fruit co'
-guatemala begins nationalizing land throughout guatemala, redistributing it to peasants
-trying to become self-sufficient
CIA goes in
-media campaign, painting Arbenz as a communist
-CIA takes a former coup leader and introduces him to the area
-brought all sorts of rebels and military elements to surrounding countries
-cut off guatemala from US aid
-actually invaded by proxy troops

C) Missile Gap
Americans were concerned that the US was losing relative advantage to the soviets

1957
-august- first ICBM
-oct- sputnik
american concept of isolation from outside enemies is shot
ICBM/SLBM/IRBM
now russia can strike the US from within its own territory
Sputnik
first satellite, launched the space race
Gaither Report
november 1957
-recommendations for US security
-develop ICBMs, SLBMs
-IRBMs in Europe
-disperse bases, early warning, harden bases
-create fallout shelters
-every family's entitled to a fallout shelter

eisenhower refused to endorse the entire package
-this would involve a MASSIVE amount of spending
-was satisfied with 'sufficiency'
-americans have just enough nukes to ensure deterrence
-ended up in the right
-massive soviet ramp up of nuclear production was essentially a bluff, they didnt have the resources to do so
D) Failed Negotiations
russia/china relations are actually not so monolithic as eisenhower thought
U2
soviets were bluffing, eisenhower was trying to ensure this
-launched U2 after U2 after U2 to spy on the soviets
-launched one too many, one got shot down, destroyed any negotiations taking place