ABSTRACT
American scholarly and journalistic writing on the Soviet Union and international communism has been preoccupied with communist ideology and its relation to policy. Yet it argues that the Communists have invited the preoccupation of their antagonists with communist ideology. American policy and attitudes have been molded by ideological anti-communism rather than by the pragmatism on which Americans pride themselves. The US chose to ignore the actuality for the myth, regarding revolution in general and the Bolshevik revolution in particular as disruptive of a policy of shaping the world according to its ideological preferences. The ideological bias of American policy toward communism comes through in focus when compared to policy toward the fascist and Nazi powers. Ideological anticommunism has also taken its toll in American society, contributing to the stifling of independent thought and critical discussion on both foreign and domestic policy. The attitude of the US toward revolution provides a leading example of the discrepancy between its professions and behavior.
