ABSTRACT
The Korean War had a profound impact on the course of the Cold War and the evolution of US foreign and defense policies. The war crystallized existing trends and acted as a catalyst for other developments. As Walter LaFeber has pointed out, "the conflict in Korea was a watershed in the history of American post-war foreign policy, but like all watersheds, it had indispensable tributaries." The war in Korea had a major influence on American strategic thinking and significantly influenced the internal bureaucratic and political struggle in the United States. National Security Council-68 helped lay the foundations for a significant change in US policy and provided a framework for the rearmament effort prompted by the Korean War. Prior to Korean hostilities, American policy-makers had been unsure whether to rearm Japan or have the Japanese maintain unarmed neutrality. Relations between the US on the one side and the Soviet Union and China were transformed by the Korean War.
