Thought and Action

This chapter describes how James Burnham became a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative. During his tenure, Burnham's mind conjured up myriad ways to thwart communism abroad, from planting rumors of Stalin's imminent assassination to capturing Soviet secret agents and injecting them with truth serum. He also became a critical figure in the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF), where Burnham and noncommunist liberals collaborated in their efforts to recruit intellectuals to their side of the Cold War. With Burnham's help, the congress sponsored anticommunist conferences and writers worldwide. The chapter then looks at Burnham's Containment or Liberation (1953), which was the third part of his anticommunist trilogy. Continuing themes from The Struggle of the World and The Coming Defeat of Communism, the book argues that containment was not aggressive enough. Defensive measures may be necessary, but they must always be part of an offensive strategy that weakens the opponent. The chapter also considers Burnham's views on McCarthyism.