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Published byBertha Wheeler Modified over 8 years ago
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NIXON AND THE COLD WAR 20.5
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Nixon’s Foreign Policy Nixon + Kissinger redefined Cold War American foreign policy Realpolitik: Political goals should be defined by concrete national interests as opposed to abstract ideologies
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Nixon’s Foreign Policy Put aside Cold War biases = China + S.U. (ideological enemies) could be very beneficial trading partners They agreed there was no worldwide communist mvm’t Flexible vs. absolute foreign policy
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Nixon Reaches out to China “Nixon wants to recognize China.” The People’s Republic of China was not formally recognized by the U.S. + not allowed in U.N. Taiwan was serving China’s seat Nixon knew China was too big to be ignored forever VERY unlike him! Said improving relations w/ China would actually benefit the U.S. Economically for trade Politically to hurt the S.U. Force NV to a negotiated peace
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Nixon Normalizes Relations With China Lots to gain + little to lose = Nixon goes w/ his plans April 1971 – China invites U.S. table tennis team to play against the Chinese Demonstrated the China was willing to talk ∴ Kissinger worked behind the scenes to solve sensitive issues w/ Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai
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Nixon Visits China February 1972: Nixon made the historic trip to China Toured the Great Wall, Imperial Palace, etc Talked at length w/ Premier Zhou Enlai + Mao Zedong Learned a Chinese toast (in Chinese) Successful in normalizing relations w/ China One year later American tourists started going to China! 1979 = full diplomatic relations opened up b/w U.S + China
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Détente With the Soviet Union B/c of meeting/w China, Brezhnev (replaced Khrushchev in 1964) feared the S.U. would be isolated ∴ he invited Nixon to the S.U.!
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Nixon Visits the Soviet Union Nixon went in May 1972 + established SALT I Treaty: Froze the deployment of ICBM’s Limited # antiballistic missiles to 1972 levels Limited the # of submarine missiles they could have
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Détente With the Soviet Union Détente: Policy of easing Cold War tensions Moving away from suspicion + distrust towards diplomacy Nixon visited China + S.U. several times ∴ Relaxed the inflexible U.S. stance against communism More realistic approach to foreign policy Was able to reach a peace agreement in Vietnam Each a step closer to the end of the Cold War
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