Russia and Germany in the life of the American diplomat George Frost Kennan (toward his 110^th birthday)

Abstract

© The authors. A well-known American diplomat and historian George Frost Kennan's (1904-2005) activities studying is still a live issue today and brings us to a different regarding of the key aspects of international relations in the XXth century. Kennan is one of the founders of ideas of "political realism" in the history and theory of international relations and "power equation" in geopolitics as well as the author of the famous "doctrine of containment" which had provided the basis for the USA foreign policy for decades. In this regard the article is aimed at the complex evaluating of the role of Germany and Russia in the life of the American diplomat George Frost Kennan. While working on this article we used a historical-comparative approach enabling comparison of different events and different points of view as well as his own ones during different periods of his life. When studying the role of Russia in Kennan's life, it should be noted that with it his very first and bright diplomatic appointments are connected and they allowed exploring the Russian political system, developing a passion for the Russian culture, learning the Russian people, whom he had admired through his life. "Russian issue" had always been the cornerstone of not only Kennan's diplomatic, but also academic and social-political career. The German issue had also been widely regarded in the work of the diplomat.