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Detente Means A Period Of Strained Relationships Essay

Detente means a period of strained relationships between one party and another with each trying to gain certain ends. Nixon had this type of relationship with the Soviet Union shortly after he gained office in 1969. He started the talks on limitation of arms. An interim pact was signed in Helsinki, Finland, and later taken to the U.S.S.R. In 1972 by Nixon and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev. Brezhnev visited the U.S. The following year where Nixon and he signed the nuclear nonaggression pact as well as several agreements for technology, science, and cultural exchanges. Nixon again visited the U.S.S.R. In 1974, but he and Brezhnev did not come to any final agreements regarding limiting proliferation of nuclear weapons.

As regards China, Nixon conducted a detente with that state too. He lifted the anti-Chinese embargo restrictions in 1971. In return, Mao allowed American athletes to be officially welcomed in their country.

Kissinger secretly visited Beijing in July 1971 where he met Mao and Zhou Enlai and discussed diplomatic issues such as those concerning Taiwan and Vietnam....

Nixon visited China the following year.
As with that of the U.S.S.R., the trip led to slight diffusion of tension although to no specific practical ends.

2. Kissinger and Nixon's policy of 'shuttle politics' and realpolitik in the growing tension of Arab states and Israel was the following:

Firstly realpolitik refers to dealing with politics in a practical manner rather than a theoretical abstract manner even if it means compromising on national principles. This was the hall-mark of many of Nixon's strategies.

As regards the Arab-Israeli conflict, this was manifested by Kissinger's shuttle politics where he persuaded the Israelis to partially draw from the Sinai after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War in recognition of the global political realities created by the oil crisis (the Arab's retaliator to Western world). The term was used since both parties refused recognition of the other; this may be later followed by mutually desired negotiation. Kissinger's persuasion in fact helped cessation of hostilities following the Yom Kippur War.

3. Nixon's…

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On June 17, 1972, some burglars were caught in the lobby of the Watergate hotel attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents. They were eventually connected to Nixon's reelection campaign. Nixon may not have been aware of the plans before they occurred, but he endeavored to cover the plot afterwards raising "hush money" for the burglars, and trying to prevent the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the crime. He also destroyed evidence and fired uncooperative members.

In August 1974, after these activities were discovered, Nixon resigned with his successor Gerald Ford pardoning him of any of these errors.

The Watergate scandal had an enduring effect on American attitude towards the presidency leading them to question their leaders' actions.
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