Containment: Relevant or Relic?

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The United States (U.S.) faces threats from non-states, including terrorist organizations and piracy in the Horn of Africa, all of which are quite different from the super-power threat posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The U.S. developed and implemented an effective containment strategy against the Kremlin, and this thesis examined whether containment can still be effective against a modern non-state target. This thesis divided its examination into three areas: (1) Cold War containment strategy evolution; (2) war and foreign policy theory; and (3) case studies of Somalia in 1993, the piracy situation in Somalia as of 2009, and terrorism organizations including al Qaida. The analysis revealed sufficient factors suggesting a modified containment strategy can be effective against a non super-power entity, though additional case studies would bolster (or weaken) this conclusion. Finally, in an effort to enact national policy goals of preventing wars, in addition to fighting and winning wars, this thesis presented a rudimentary formula that aids the military planner in determining the viability of a proposed containment strategy against any target.