R.I.P. Containment

If you have ever taken a U.S. History class that covers the last 60 years or so chances are you have heard of the old time-tested strategy of containment. Essentially, the Soviet Union and its allies were 'contained' through a series of economic, political and military measures so they could not expand their influence. Many would argue the strategy was the biggest reason why the US and its allies won the Cold War.

Some have argued the US should apply the same strategy to Iran and China. Well thanks to modern technology like Social Media, modern telecommunications, and international commerce, containment as strategy is dead. People can now share ideas, exchange money, tweet or use things like weibo to give each other information in a blink of an eye. Technology it seems has killed an old strategy.



thediplomat.com...

Hence why the Senate voted to approve all measures against Iran this weekend and said CONTAINMENT was no longer a viable option.

Containment is still alive and well. But it's about containing certain information. You don't see the Chinese model of forced (semi?) labor being spread like communist utopia... And while radical muslims have a voice they are also the most infiltrated groups throughout the world by just about every intelligence agency, making it oh so easy to throw political targets on people's backs if need be (Just like the red-"Pinko" supporters of the cold war were).

Sure the architecture has changed, and strategies have shifted, but I think the main war now is being fought by faulty information being disseminated.

War of distraction...

Originally posted by Socrato
Hence why the Senate voted to approve all measures against Iran this weekend and said CONTAINMENT was no longer a viable option.

If they are going to war they are going to war by choice. If they wanted to keep undermining the regime I'm sure they could be just as successful. There's more to it, just as there always is...

Originally posted by travis911
Many would argue the strategy was the biggest reason why the US and its allies won the Cold War.

Some have argued the US should apply the same strategy to Iran and China. Well thanks to modern technology like Social Media, modern telecommunications, and international commerce, containment as strategy is dead. People can now share ideas, exchange money, tweet or use things like weibo to give each other information in a blink of an eye. Technology it seems has killed an old strategy.

thediplomat.com...

Nobody won the cold war IMO but thats another thread.

It seems the US doesn't have to contain Iran from global information, Iran is going to do it to themselves. www.abovetopsecret.com... Iran readies domestic Internet system, blocks Google