Foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration

The United States foreign policy during the presidency of John F. Kennedy from 1961 to 1963 included diplomatic and military initiatives in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, all conducted amid considerable Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union and its satellite states in Eastern Europe. Kennedy deployed a new generation of foreign policy experts, dubbed "the best and the brightest".^[1] In his inaugural address Kennedy encapsulated his Cold War stance: "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate".^[2]

Kennedy's strategy of flexible response, managed by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, was aimed to reduce the possibility of war by miscalculation. His administration resulted in the peaceful resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis and refrained from further escalation of the Berlin Crisis of 1961. However, Kennedy's policies also led to implementing the Bay of Pigs invasion and escalation of the Vietnam War.^[3]

Kennedy was committed to the rapid economic development of the newly organized nations in Africa and Asia. He used modernization theory as the model to follow, and created the Alliance for Progress, the Peace Corps, Food for Peace, and the Agency for International Development (AID). After the near escape from disaster in the Cuban Missile Crisis, he promoted disarmament and disengagement programs with Moscow, and created the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. In October, 1963, he signed into law the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which was accepted by Moscow and London.

^ Hastedt, Glenn (2004). Encyclopedia of American foreign policy. Infobase Publishing. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-8160-4642-3.
^ "Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy". American Rhetoric. January 20, 1961. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
^ Jones, Howard (2010). The Bay of Pigs. Oxford University Press. pp. 46–54. ISBN 9780199754250.