Domino theory Domino theory The domino theory was a theory prominent from the 1950s to the 1980s that posited that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. The domino theory was used by successive United States administrations during the Cold War to justify the need for American intervention around the world. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower described the theory during an April 7, 1954, news conference, when referring to communism in Indochina: In 1945, the Soviet Union brought most of the countries of eastern Europe and Central
Historiography of the Cold War historians have also presented the view that the origins of the Cold War date to the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Some reach back even further as Wisconsin School historian Walter LaFeber in his study "America, Russia, and the Cold War", first published in 1972, argued that the Cold War had its origins in 19th century conflicts between Russia and the United States over the opening of East Asia to American trade, markets and influence. LaFeber argued that the United States commitment at the close of World War II to ensuring a world in which every state was