The task of international politics at the present time, writes Mr. Kennan, is "to find means to permit change to proceed without repeatedly shaking the peace of the world." American foreign policy, he believes, has too often been dangerously unrealistic and has operated under certain misconceptions about the United States' role in the community of nations.
Setting out to examine the world context within which American foreign policy must function, Mr. Kennan faces the hard facts of Soviet expansion, the ambiguous and often chaotic forces in the non-communist world, and the enormous difficulty of maintaining a posture of dignity and restraint in our foreign affairs. He warns against the dangers of relying on rigid military solutions, of over-estimating the capacities of the United Nations and other international peace-keeping institutions, and, in general, of looking at international life as a mechanistic rather than an organic process. It is in the inner development of our national life that he believes we can find solutions to our external problems, for American foreign policy will take its shape from the goals of American society.