In foreign policy, the intellectual construct called containment had a humble beginning for such an important idea. Just after World War II ended in 1945, a piece appeared in a journal devoted to foreign policy. It was an influential publication, although it had a comparatively small circulation. The article in question was written anonymously, and was authored by a mid-level State Department official As expressed in the article, the notion of containment was to utilize American power to oppose the Soviet Union anywhere that nation attemptedto establish a Communist regime. Eventually, containment as a philosophy led to such major post war initiatives as the Truman Doctrine, a policy of bolstering free societies with military aid; the Marshall Plan, a plan consisting of economic aid offered to as many as 15 Europen nations after WWII; and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO, a military aliance formed 10 defend Western Europe that has endured longer than the Soviet Union. 1. The author's tone in this passage can be best described as