AP Success - AP US History: National Security Council on Cold War Policies

A top-secret document influnced much of the United States' strategy to defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

Source 1

The Soviet Union is developing the military capacity to support its design for world domination... possesses armed forces far in excess of those necessary to defend its national territory... This excessive strength, coupled now with an atomic capability, provides the Soviet Union with great coercive power... serves as a deterrent to the victims of its aggression from taking any action in opposition to its tactics which would risk war... The United States now possesses the greatest military potential of any single nation in the world. The military weaknesses of the United States vis-a-vis the Soviet Union, however, include its numerical inferiority in forces in being and in total manpower... the United States also lacks tenable positions from which to employ its forces in event of war and munitions power in being and readily available... If war should begin in 1950, the United States and its allies will have the military capability of conducting defensive operations to provide a reasonable measure of protection to the Western Hemisphere, bases in the Western Pacific, and essential military lines of communication; and an inadequate measure of protection to vital military bases in the United Kingdom and in the Near and Middle East...

U.S. National Security Council. "NSC-68." Digital History. 1950.

Question 1

Short answer

Briefly describe ONE advantage the Soviet Union had over the United States as expressed in the excerpt.

Question 2

Short answer

Briefly explain ONE specific historical development that led the author of the excerpt to make their assessment of the Soviet Union.

Question 3

Short answer

Briefly evaluate the effectiveness of ONE strategy the United States adopted as a response to the message expressed in the excerpt.

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