William Stueck was awarded the Stuart L. Bernath Lectureship I n 1986. He studied with Charles Neu at Brown University. He is currently an associate professor of history at the University of Georgia, and his research focused on the American policy toward China and Korea during the Truman period. Stueck is the author of ¡§ The Korean war as International History.¡¨, The Wedemeyer mission: American politics and foreign policy during the cold war, and The Road to Confrontation: American Policy Toward China and Korea, 1947-1950 and numerous scholarly articles.
The book ¡§ The Road to confrontation¡¨ is his most representative work. This book tried to find the answer of the question ¡§How did the United States become engaged in this unwanted conflict with China in Korea?¡¨ by analyzing American policy toward China and Korea from 1947 through November 1950. It was divided into four parts according to the time scale, which shows the transition of American foreign policy toward China and Korean.
After the World War II, American policy would be expressed as ¡§ the Decline of China and the Rise of Korea.¡¨ With the Japanese retreat out of Korea in 1945, the peninsula was divided into two, one was ruled by Soviet Union and the other was occupied by America. That¡¦s why Korea became the area of confrontation between the two superpowers. In 1947, forty thousand American troops were stationed into Korea. At the same time, Truman administration decided to withdraw the US force troop from China. Stueck pointed out 1947 was the year of crucial decisions regarding both China and Korea that would exert a major impact on the future of the United States in East Asia.
The second period was under Marshall¡¦s stewardship. In this time (1947 and 1948), General Marshall took a central role in directing China policy and showed concrete policy in China and Korea. In China, the United Stated avoided to expand commitment to the Nationalist government in order to force the Nationalist and the Communists to establish a coalition government. In Korea, on the other hand, the United States expanded its aid to the South Korean authority. On August 1948, the United States promoted the creation of the Republic of Korea, which is below the 38 parallel. It was dependent on American aid for its survival.
The third period was the eve of the Korean war. The Chiang Kai-shek government lost China in 1949. In the meantime, the Truman administration refused to launch new aid programs to sustain anti-communist group in Taiwan. In this period, American policy toward china was ¡§Letting the Dust Settle.¡¨ What was more, the Truman administration left South Korea out of the American defense perimeter in the pacific. That is to say, the American troops withdrew from the peninsula in 1949 and ignored an impending North Korean attack. In this period, American policy toward China and Korea tended to non-involvement.

Although the United States failed to employ an effective strategy of deterrence in Korea, when communist forces moved south of the 38th parallel on 25 June 1950, Washington officials barely hesitated before taking extensive action. Again, American tried to get involve with the Koran issue. This is the transition to the Forth period. American policy in the early months of the Korea War was ¡§Containment, Liberation, and Confrontation.¡¨
Like most American scholars, William Stueck believed that Communist Chinese intervention in Korea had a decisive impact on the evolution of American policy. Prior to November 1950, the Truman administration had demonstrated some flexibility in its attitude toward communist China. But after that, the United States started to keep down the Communist China. This is because China¡¦s intervention in the Korea War. Therefore, the Korean War became the road for the United States, Soviet Union and China to confrontation.
As William Stueck¡¦s research indicated, it was a long road for the US East Asian policy to be concluded. The US engagement to the Korean War was not a rash decision at all. As Author said the road of 1947-1950 was ¡§the road to Confrontation.¡¨