The text authors say that “both [Truman and Stalin] knew exactly what

The text authors say that “both [Truman and Stalin] knew exactly what they wanted, and what they wanted guaranteed future conflicts”.

Describe what it was that each of these two postwar leaders wanted, and explain why conflict between them was “guaranteed.”

ANSWER
Truman wanted U.S. access to world markets and the success of democratic (or at least anticommunist) governments in free nations. Stalin wanted to guarantee the security of the Soviet Union. Conflicts were inevitable because the Soviets defined their security as having friendly governments on their borders. Thus, free nations and democratic governments were incompatible with the Soviet Union’s definition of its own security. At the same time, communist governments with their closed markets were incompatible with the United States’s definition of its security.