George Kennan proposed that the US policy toward the Soviet Union should be one of containment. This meant that the US would try to prevent the Soviet Union from expanding its influence and power, but would not directly attack it. Kennan argued that the Soviet Union was a revisionist power that was determined to spread its communist ideology throughout the world. He believed that the US could contain the Soviet Union by building up its military strength, providing economic and military aid to its allies, and promoting democracy and human rights around the world.