But a war in which it appeared the United States was doomed to stumble in the dark, forever caught by surprise so long as it stayed on defense and tried to predict what the Soviets might do next. This had everything to do with the nature of their foe—and specifically, with the personality of Joseph Stalin. In the case of the other great belligerent of the twentieth century, Adolf Hitler, there had at least been a method to his madness; in Mein Kampf, Hitler had outlined many of his plans for European conquest and then pursued them. With Stalin, by contrast, there was no blueprint. If there was
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