“The Soviet structure of power is committed to the perfection of the dictatorship and to maintaining the concept that Russia is in a state of siege, with an enemy that lies just beyond the walls. This mentality has profound implications for Russia’s international conduct. Moscow assumes that the aims of the capitalist world are antagonistic to the Soviet regime. However, the Kremlin is under no compulsion to accomplish its goal of spreading its influence in a hurry. If it finds unassailable barriers in its path, it accepts them and accommodates itself to them. There is no trace of any feeling in Soviet psychology that that goal must be reached at any given time. In these circumstances it is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of patient and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies. Soviet economic development, while it can list certain formidable achievements, has been precariously spotty and uneven. It is difficult to see how the deficiencies of the Soviet economic system can be corrected by a tired and dispirited population working largely under the shadow of fear and compulsion. And as long as they are not overcome, Russia will remain an economically vulnerable and impotent nation, capable of exporting its ideological enthusiasm but unable to export real evidence of material power and prosperity. Indeed, it is the strong belief of this writer that Soviet power bears within it the seeds of its own decay, and that the sprouting of these seeds is well advanced.”

George F. Kennan, United States diplomat to the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1946, article submitted anonymously to an academic journal devoted to the conduct of foreign policy, published in Washington, D. C., 1947

Which of the following best explains the purpose of the arguments expressed in the passage?

A. To influence Soviet government officials to adopt economic policies that would harm the Soviet Union
B. To influence United States government officials to adopt policies designed to avoid a major war
C. To convince world leaders to unite in order to stop the evils of communism
D. To convince Soviet citizens that the United States meant them no harm in the hopes of creating a sustainable peace