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Truman Doctrine

Definition

The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy created to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. It stated that the U.S. would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

Analogy

Imagine you're at school again but this time there's a bully who keeps picking on smaller kids. You step up and promise to help anyone who gets threatened by this bully - that's kind of what America did with the Truman Doctrine against potential threats from communism.

Related terms

Marshall Plan: An American initiative passed in 1948 for foreign aid to Western Europe after World War II aimed at rebuilding war-torn regions, removing trade barriers modernizing industry etc.

Cold War: A period of geopolitical tension between powers in Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union & its satellite states) & powers in Western Bloc (United States, its NATO allies and others).

Domino Theory: The theory that a political event in one country will cause similar events in neighboring countries, like a falling domino causing an entire row of upended dominos to fall.