During his later years, Kennan concluded that "the general effect of Cold War extremism was to delay rather than hasten the great change that overtook the Soviet Union".
Under sina sista år drog Kennan slutsatsen att "den sammanlagda effekten av kalla kriget-extremismen var att senarelägga snarare än att snabba på den stora förändring som drabbade Sovjetunionen".