Question: why did the united states pursue a policy of containment
Answer: prevent the spread of communism

title: Containment
text: Containment Containment is a geopolitical strategy to stop the expansion of an enemy. It is best known as a Cold War foreign policy of the United States and its allies to prevent the spread of communism. As a component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to increase communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Africa, Vietnam, and Latin America. Containment represented a middle-ground position between detente and rollback. The basis of the doctrine was articulated in a 1946 cable by U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan during the post-World