--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: American foreign policy was a mirror…" description: "\"“American foreign policy was a mirror image of Russian foreign policy: whatever the Russians did, we did in reverse. American domestic policies were co..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e5/archibald-macleish-7676_blacklist_american-foreign-policy-was-a-mirror-ima_187699.jpg" --- # American foreign policy was a mirror image of Russian… ![“American foreign policy was a mirror image of Russian foreign policy: whatever the Russians did, we did in reverse. American domestic policies were conducted under a kind of upside-down Russian veto: no man could be elected to public office unless he was on record as detesting the Russians, and no…” quote by Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e5/archibald-macleish-7676_blacklist_american-foreign-policy-was-a-mirror-ima_187699.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e5/archibald-macleish-7676_blacklist_american-foreign-policy-was-a-mirror-ima_187699.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e5/archibald-macleish-7676_blacklist_american-foreign-policy-was-a-mirror-ima_187699.jpg) > ““American foreign policy was a mirror image of Russian foreign policy: whatever the Russians did, we did in reverse. American domestic policies were conducted under a kind of upside-down Russian veto: no man could be elected to public office unless he was on record as detesting the Russians, and no proposal could be enacted, from a peace plan at one end to a military budget at the other, unless it could be demonstrated that the Russians wouldn't like it.”” [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests U.S. policy mirrored Soviet actions, with domestic politics driven by anti‑Russian sentiment, making decisions contingent on Russian approval. **In simple terms:** U.S. policy copied Russia and required anti‑Russian stance for office and legislation. Key Takeaway Recognize how external enemies can shape internal politics. Themes politics foreign policy mirroring ideology power dynamics Mood cynical critical Type political historical When to use this quote - election campaigns - legislative voting - policy drafting - public speeches Key Concepts Cold War dynamics political conformity strategic opposition Questions to Reflect On - How does framing opposition as a unifying force affect democratic debate? - What other factors drive policy beyond foreign rivals? A Different Perspective It oversimplifies complex motivations and ignores other influences on policy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blacklist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacklist/) [Cold war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) [Foreign policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-policy/) [Inquisition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquisition/) [Mccarthyism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mccarthyism/) [Mirror image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror-image/) [Russia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/russia/) ## Related quotes > [In the era of Khruschev the Soviet Union had publicly declared itself a supporter of the Indian stand on Kashmir. In 1962 a Russian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nyla-ali-khan/in-the-era-of-khruschev-the-soviet-union-had-publicly-declared-itself/) [Nyla Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nyla-ali-khan/) > [“Brought before HCUA, Miller was chastised for the suggestion that Congressional investigations might have something in common with witch trials; he replied, “The comparison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/brought-before-hcua-miller-was-chastised-for-the-suggestion-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Condon, quick on his feet, replied that the accusation was untrue. He was not a revolutionary in physics. He raised his right hand: “I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/condon-quick-on-his-feet-replied-that-the-accusation-was-untrue-he/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Don't make a career out of underestimating me." — Claire de Haven”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/don-t-make-a-career-out-of-underestimating-me-claire-de-haven/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) > [“No one man can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-r-murrow/no-one-man-can-terrorize-a-whole-nation-unless-we-are-all-his/) [Edward R. Murrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-r-murrow/) > [“In Russia I felt for the first time like a full human being – no colour prejudice like in Mississippi, no colour prejudice like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-robeson/in-russia-i-felt-for-the-first-time-like-a-full-human-being-no-colour/) [Paul Robeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-robeson/) > [“There are today many Communists in America. They are everywhere -- in factories, offices, butcher stores, on street corners, in private businesses. And each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-howard-mcgrath/there-are-today-many-communists-in-america-they-are-everywhere-in/) J. Howard McGrath > [I don't have any authority to talk about the domestic policies of America. But as an outsider, I am mystified by the fact that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/i-don-t-have-any-authority-to-talk-about-the-domestic-policies-of/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [Little by little, the U.S. has allowed questionable domestic policies to chip away at the only hope poor students have at a better future.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-kasparian/little-by-little-the-u-s-has-allowed-questionable-domestic-policies/) [Ana Kasparian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-kasparian/) > [In the 1990s and 2000s, the liberal story shaped not only the foreign policy of the United States and its allies, but also the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/in-the-1990s-and-2000s-the-liberal-story-shaped-not-only-the-foreign/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [Our foreign policy needs to support our energy, economic, defense and domestic policies. It all falls within the arch of national interest. There will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/our-foreign-policy-needs-to-support-our-energy-economic-defense-and/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [There are some who support us and others who are on the other side. They bow to pressure from the international community. But there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-mashal/there-are-some-who-support-us-and-others-who-are-on-the-other-side/) [Khaled Mashal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-mashal/) > [Policy and business elites did not speak frankly about the unequal distribution of benefits from trade and failed to adequately accompany market-opening with good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arancha-gonzalez/policy-and-business-elites-did-not-speak-frankly-about-the-unequal/) [Arancha Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arancha-gonzalez/) ## More by Archibald MacLeish > [Never in all their history have men been able truly to conceive of the world as one: a single sphere, a globe, having the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/never-in-all-their-history-have-men-been-able-truly-to-conceive-of/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms, by truth when it is attacked by lies, by faith when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/how-shall-freedom-be-defended-by-arms-when-it-is-attacked-by-arms-by/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Around, around the sun we go: The moon goes round the earth. We do not die of death: We die of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/around-around-the-sun-we-go-the-moon-goes-round-the-earth-we-do-not/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [What you really have to know is one: yourself. And the only way you can know that one is in the mirror of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-you-really-have-to-know-is-one-yourself-and-the-only-way-you-can/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Poets... are literal-minded men who will squeeze a word till it hurts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/poets-are-literal-minded-men-who-will-squeeze-a-word-till-it-hurts/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [To separate journalism and poetry, therefore-history and poetry-to set them up at opposite ends of the world of discourse, is to separate seeing from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/to-separate-journalism-and-poetry-therefore-history-and-poetry-to-set/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [You burned the city of London in our houses and we felt the flames.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/you-burned-the-city-of-london-in-our-houses-and-we-felt-the-flames/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [The infantile cowardice of our time which demands an external pattern, a nonhuman authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/the-infantile-cowardice-of-our-time-which-demands-an-external-pattern/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Races didn't bother the Americans. They were something a lot better than any race. They were a People. They were the first self-constituted, self-declared,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/races-didn-t-bother-the-americans-they-were-something-a-lot-better/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Young poets are advised by their elders to avoid the practice of journalism as they would wet socks and gin before breakfast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/young-poets-are-advised-by-their-elders-to-avoid-the-practice-of/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [There are those, I know, who will reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/there-are-those-i-know-who-will-reply-that-the-liberation-of-humanity/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-is-freedom-freedom-is-the-right-to-choose-the-right-to-create/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [A poem should not mean but be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/a-poem-should-not-mean-but-be/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [What once was cuddled must learn to kiss The cold wonn's mouth. That's all the mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-once-was-cuddled-must-learn-to-kiss-the-cold-wonn-s-mouth-that-s/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“You wanted justice ,didn't you?There isn't any...there is only love." - J.B's wife”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/you-wanted-justice-didn-t-you-there-isn-t-any-there-is-only-love-j-b/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) [Explore all 88 Archibald MacLeish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) ## More Blacklist quotes > [To my knowledge, there is no blacklist. But there is a mindset, even among liberal producers, that says 'He may be difficult so let's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-asner/to-my-knowledge-there-is-no-blacklist-but-there-is-a-mindset-even/) [Ed Asner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-asner/) > [It's never been written about, but before the blacklist of Dalton Trumbo and the Hollywood Ten, there was a de facto blacklist by Communists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-bean/it-s-never-been-written-about-but-before-the-blacklist-of-dalton/) [Orson Bean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-bean/) > [If you've got a blacklist, I want to be on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bragg/if-you-ve-got-a-blacklist-i-want-to-be-on-it/) [Billy Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bragg/) > [The 'Blacklist' duology is a project I am very passionate about, and when the St. Martin's Press team approached me, I was captivated with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-day/the-blacklist-duology-is-a-project-i-am-very-passionate-about-and/) [Sylvia Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-day/) > [Film and television were out. I was 24, and it went on until I was 36. For an actor, those are your years. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-grant/film-and-television-were-out-i-was-24-and-it-went-on-until-i-was-36/) [Lee Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-grant/) > [ The blacklist was a time of evil...no one on either side who survived it came through untouched by evil...\[Looking\] back on this time...it will… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalton-trumbo/the-blacklist-was-a-time-of-evil-no-one-on-either-side-who-survived/) [Dalton Trumbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalton-trumbo/) > [There is no blacklist. In the first place, in the entertainment business, money talks, bullshit walks. So Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janeane-garofalo/there-is-no-blacklist-in-the-first-place-in-the-entertainment/) [Janeane Garofalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janeane-garofalo/) > [I was living in a terrible time when people were being accused of being communists, and they attacked the movie industry, especially the writers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-douglas/i-was-living-in-a-terrible-time-when-people-were-being-accused-of/) [Kirk Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-douglas/) > [ The blacklist against people in the entertainment industry that show up for \[Donald\] Trump is worse than that blacklist you heard of in Hollywood… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-blacklist-against-people-in-the-entertainment-industry-that-show/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“There are today many Communists in America. They are everywhere -- in factories, offices, butcher stores, on street corners, in private businesses. And each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-howard-mcgrath/there-are-today-many-communists-in-america-they-are-everywhere-in/) J. Howard McGrath > [Im so happy with The Blacklist. Give me more people to shoot and throw them off buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-klattenhoff/im-so-happy-with-the-blacklist-give-me-more-people-to-shoot-and-throw/) [Diego Klattenhoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-klattenhoff/) > [I'm so happy with 'The Blacklist.' Give me more people to shoot and throw them off buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-klattenhoff/i-m-so-happy-with-the-blacklist-give-me-more-people-to-shoot-and/) [Diego Klattenhoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-klattenhoff/) > [Not a single person I named hadn't already been named at least a half-dozen times and wasn't already on he blacklist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dmytryk/not-a-single-person-i-named-hadn-t-already-been-named-at-least-a-half/) [Edward Dmytryk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dmytryk/) > [I would rather quit public life at seventy, and quit it forever, than to retain public life at a sacrifice to my own self-respect.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gurney-cannon/i-would-rather-quit-public-life-at-seventy-and-quit-it-forever-than/) Joseph Gurney Cannon > [I was blacklisted and overnight my TV appearances dried up. Ed Sullivan called to cancel my appearance and said he'd help me when he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-bean/i-was-blacklisted-and-overnight-my-tv-appearances-dried-up-ed/) [Orson Bean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-bean/) [Browse all 17 Blacklist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacklist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“American foreign policy was a mirror image of Russian foreign policy: whatever the Russians did, we did in reverse. 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