How did the Eisenhower-Dulles “New Look” policy change the US approach to the Cold War?

Chapter outline

I.  Eisenhower’s perspective

II.  Dulles’s perspective

III.  The New Look (1953-61)

IV.  Communication Problems

The GOP Foreign Policy Landscape

L to R: Eisenhower, Dulles, Taft

  • President Dwight Eisenhower
  • Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
  • Senator Robert Taft

Defining the New Look (1953-61)

Operation Solarium (1953) and move from symmetry to asymmetry

  • Nuclear deterrence
    • “Massive retaliation” and “brinkmanship”
    • Conventional vs. nuclear weapons
  • Alliances
    • Multilateralism and unilateralism
    • NATO (1949-55), SEATO (1954), CENTO (1955)
    • Neutrality or non-aligned nations (Bandung Conference, 1955)
  • Psychological warfare
    • “Liberation” and “rollback” and “Open Skies”
    • Propaganda (Voice of America)
  • Covert operations
    • Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954)
    • Other CIA actions
  • Negotiations
    • Death of Stalin (1953) and return of summit diplomacy
    • Geneva (1955), Camp David (1959), Paris (1960)

Debating Eisenhower’s Legacy

How should historians interpret President Dwight Eisenhower’s now-famous farewell address (January 1961), which invoked a warning about the rising “military-industrial complex”?

From National Archives:

From New York Times: