Truman Doctrine Theme of Fear

Fear is a natural human instinct. It was also a natural "national" instinct/response to the growing threat of the Soviet Union. By 1947, the Soviet threat was real—they were adding new sections of the world map at an alarmingly fast rate and were already in the process of building their own atomic bomb.

This was a frightening time in world history, and Truman not only knows it, but also describes it in the Truman Doctrine.

1. Where can you pick up on a sense of fear in Truman's speech?
2. This is diving a little bit into the Cold War of the 1960s, but have you ever heard of MAD (the acronym for mutually assured destruction, not the magazine)? How does it connect to the theme or idea of fear?
3. Let's do a little roleplaying—would you be scared if you were an American living in 1947? What if you were Greek or Turkish?

The Truman Doctrine was a strong, declarative statement on foreign policy that stemmed from an increasingly tense and frightening situation.

The Truman Doctrine was a strong, declarative stance on foreign policy that ultimately added more fear of communism in America than the threat it was meant to contain.