After the First World War, the European nations assumed that the United States (US) would continue to involve itself in international matters, particularly in helping to reconstruct Europe and help maintain the balance of power. However, the US showed no inclination to become involved. On the one hand this was seen in Europe as evidence of selfishness and immaturity. On the other, whilst many Americans shared the Europeans sense of disillusionment with the war and its aftermath, they also believed that their involvement had been both unnecessary and a grave mistake. The Nye Committee (1935) proclaimed that the US had been lured into the war by armaments manufacturers and by Wall Street bankers who wanted to save their fortunes. Foreign policy had seldom interested many Americans, and there was no earthly reason in the inter-war years why they felt that they should become involved in what they considered to be the affairs of other nations. They were not threatened and there were more important activities to which they wanted to devote their time and money.

Many thought of relations with other natio

The Atlantic Charter of 1941 declared that the war would have a democratic purpose - winning wars was not enough. Without the promise of a better world, ordinary people would not be prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to ensure victory. A lasting peace presupposed freedom and the champion of freedom was the US.

By 1945 the US controlled about one half of the world's industrial output. The war effort had broken the back of the depression and GNP had doubled in four years. The war not only changed the economy of the US it also transformed it militarily. Its navy was the biggest, its airforce the strongest and it possessed the atomic bomb.

Nitze succeeded Kennan at the PPS and it was his NSC-68 written in 1949 which became the blueprint for American grand strategy in the cold war. Its analysis of Soviet intentions and capabilities set the tone and framework, at the highest levels, for US relations with the Soviet Union. The US reaction to the perceived Soviet threat was to be one of containment. The notion of rolling back the gains of communism however, was never actually pursued. NSC-68 argued for a massive military build-up in order to contain the Soviet Union and maintain American credibility.

The US tried desperately to shield itself from the war in Europe and Asia by retreating into isolation. However, after the fall of France in 1940 Roosevelt believed that vital American interests were at stake. He considered the defence of Britain to be vital to US interests. Whilst the US remained technically neutral Britain managed to exchange a number of naval and air bases in exchange for 50 destroyers. The subsequent Lend-Lease act of March 1941 allowed the sale of war materials to any country whose defence the President considered would promote the defence of the US, without the need for immediate payment. By December 1941 the US had declared war on Germany and Japan.

However, the State and Treasury Departments had a vision of a multilateral, peaceful world without trade barriers. The Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau's ambition was to return the international economy to a world of freely convertible currencies. He made small headway in 1936 by negotiating the Tripartite Stabil

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1502
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)