ABSTRACT
Dwight D. Eisenhower took office when the basic strategy of Cold War had already been set. The central foreign policies, alliances, and programs, and the first great military buildup of the Cold War, had been put in place by the Truman Administration. The overwhelming issue facing the Eisenhower Administration was the threat of nuclear war. Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles accepted the view of the CIA that the Soviets were nowhere near ready for such a war, or at least deliberately initiating it, in the next few years. The basic defence policies of the Eisenhower Administration, formulated as NSC 162/2 became known as the "New Look". The New Look involved greater reliance on airpower and nuclear weapons, primarily tactical nuclear weapons. The Eisenhower Administration may not have regarded nuclear war as likely; nevertheless, it expended great thought and effort at averting the most fearful danger of all, a task complicated by an ongoing technological revolution—the development of long-range ballistic missiles.
