Anyone who has ever studied the history of American diplomacy, especially military diplomacy, knows that you might start in a war with certain things…

- George F. Kennan

It is an undeniable privilege of every man to prove himself right in the thesis that the world is his enemy; for if he reiterates it frequently enoug…

- George F. Kennan

World communism is like [a] malignant parasite which feeds on diseased tissue

- George F. Kennan

The jealous and intolerant eye of the Kremlin can distinguish, in the end, only vassals and enemies, and the neighbors of Russia, if they do not wish…

- George F. Kennan

We should cease to talk about vague and unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is …

- George F. Kennan

The nuclear bomb is the most useless weapon ever invented. It can be employed to no rational purpose. It is not even an effective defense against its…

- George F. Kennan

War is a highly overrated tool of foreign policy.

- George F. Kennan

Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantial…

- George F. Kennan

The United States cannot reshape other countries in its own image and that, with a few exceptions, its efforts to police the world are neither in its…

- George F. Kennan