Cold War Primary Sources | Paul H. Nitze

Excerpt from "National Security Council Report on Soviet Intentions (NSC-68)"

Originally published in Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS),
1950, Volume I, National Security Affairs, Foreign Economic Policy,
published in 1977

"It is quite clear from Soviet theory and practice that the Kremlin seeks to bring the free world under its dominion by the methods of the cold war. The preferred technique is to subject by infiltration and intimidation.… Those institutions of our society that touch most closely our material and moral strength are obviously the prime targets: labor unions, civic enterprises, schools, churches, and all media for influencing opinion."

By 1950, a Red Scare was rampant in the United States. The Red Scare was a time in the 1950s when Americans were particularly fearful and wary of communists penetrating into U.S. society....