What Was Rollback?
Rollback was an American foreign policy doctrine during the Cold War, which advocated the use of U.S. military power to drive back the Soviet Union's influence wherever it appeared.
The term
A rollback in and of itself is generally associated with military campaigns, where an enemy in a certain position will be driven from said area. Because this enemy will be retreating away from this position, the term rollback can be applied to this movement in the sense of forcing an enemy to retreat. Thus, the positions held by Napoleon during the highpoint of his 1812 campaign in Russia, namely Moscow, would represent the terrain from which he was slowly forced to retreat, as the winter and the Russian army "rolled back" Napoleon's forces.
Cold War Meaning
Rollback acquired a new significance during the Cold War, where it was used as a theory advocating that America "roll back" the territorial gains made by the USSR during World War II. It could be an offensive theory, since an attack would have to be mounted in Central Europe to drive the Soviet Union out of East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and its other satellite states. Rollback formed a counterpoint to the other Cold War theory known as containment, which may be seen more as defensive in nature. Containment focused on containing the spread of Soviet influence and aiding states fighting Communist insurgencies, such as Greece in 1948, South Korea in 1950 or perhaps most famously in Vietnam after the withdrawal of the French in 1954. As a general rule, the theory of rollback was the theory of the Republican party in the United States, whereas containment was the theory of the Democratic party.
Theories/Speculation
These two theories represented the poles around which American foreign policy oscillated, depending on the country and administration involved. For example, efforts were made in Cuba to rollback the Castro regime, most notably at the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, whereas during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 no moves were made to help the insurgents. One may say that in the first instance the theory of rollback was applied, and failed, whereas in the second it was not even attempted.
The Conclusion of the Cold War
The U.S. eventually emerged as the victor in the Cold War as the USSR collapsed over the period from 1989 to 1991. A large part of this collapse had to do with the defeat of the USSR in Afghanistan, a costly and prolonged conflict, where the U.S. provided support to the anti-Soviet guerrillas. Included among the ranks of this force was the nucleus of what would later become known as Al-Qaida, the international terrorist group, along with the Taliban that American forces are fighting in Afghanistan in 2009.
Considerations
Some have suggested that the price paid for the rollback in the Afghan example was too high, and that America should have chosen its allies on a more selective basis, or that the role of rival to the USSR inevitably led the United States to adopt its current course, which could prove unsustainable with the onset of economic crisis. Others, however, claim that the collapse of the USSR was worth the price.
Tags: American foreign, American foreign policy, during Cold, foreign policy, rollback applied, Soviet Union
