Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-11-21
Kennon to Moscow?

President TrumanS strong intimation that
George F. KEENAN, Is slated to be our next
Ambassador to Notwithstanding Admiral
Kirk, who wishes to retire-will be pleasing to
all but handful Of people emotionaly or par
tisanly inclined to be against almost anybody
who has been prominent or influential in the
State Department during the past five or ten
years.
Actually. although still relatively young at
Is, Mr. KEENAN, has been In the department for
q quarter Of a century. Now on a leave of
absence-which he began last year In order to
think and study In scholarly atmosphere
away from the hurly-burly of Government serv-
ice-he has long since established record that
sets him apart as one Of our foremost experts on
the Soviet Union. As such, especially in the
postwar period, he has played a leading role in
formulating American policy toward the
Kremlin.
Fluent in his use Of the Russian language.
Mr.. KEENAN,, apart from his extensive diplo-
matte experience in numerous other countries
now behind the Iron Curtain, has spent the
better part Of his adult life specializing in ques-
tions bearing upon the Soviet Union Besides
being exceedingly well versed In the country
history and detectives, he has lived over there,
of and on, for several years, beginning in 1885,
bassy-as counselor-ended in March, 1947, the
OF State, selected him to be the first head Of the
departments Policy Planning Staff.
AS far as Mr. KEENAN, is concerned-or the
world for that matter-the year 1947 Is impor-
tant for yet another reason: His authorship,
under the pen name of "Mr x.' of the cele-
brated and highly significant Foreign Affairs
article entitled THE Sources of Soviet Conduct"
This artice-setting forth the first clear defni-
ton of the policy Of "containment" to block
further Red expansion-ranks high among the
key documents that help to explain all that has
since been done In an effort to save the free
nations from being overwhelmed one at time
Indeed because of 1t, the Kremlin conc eivably
may refuse to accept Mr.. KEENAN, when and II
he Is named ambassador.
The "Mr. x" article, however, represents
only one aspect Of Mr.. Remnants thinking on
Soviet-American relations and the present grave
tensions Of the world. AS he has made clear in
a recently published series of lectures, he does
not believe that military containment, In and
of itself, is good enough. Nor does he believe
that a strict legalistic- moralistic approach
which has long governed our actions In foreign
affairs-is sound. Instead he believes that We
must cultivate the kind of diplomacy in which
adherence to pr1nciples-principles which may
have little or no acceptance in other nations
Is not 50 rigid or fanatical that 1t renders us
blind to the hard realities and slams the door
on peace-making possibilities.
To summarize Mr.. Remnants views in Just
that way is to do less than justice to the i'm
pressive quality of his thinking. Every adult
American would do we'll to read what he has
written. More of his kind-men of all nationali-
ties who realize that diplomacy calls for much
besides guns indignant moralizing and invective
are sorely needed in our world, in Moscow and
elsewhere.