Foreign Policy Nixon's Detente

Description

Detente was a cooling down, or thaw, among America, Russia and China's arms' race (Detente). The United States and Russia could either slow their weapons production or continue the arms race, which, people feared could end in a devastating war (Detente, CNN). Nixon and Henry Kissinger worked secretly on Detente at summit meetings in Beijing and Moscow. President Gerald Ford signed on to Detente in Helsinki in 1975. (CNN, Detente).

President Involved

Richard M. Nixon

Gerald Ford

People involved:

Leonid Brezhnev, Moscow Communist Party Chief, wanted to relax tensions with America (CNN, Detente).

Willy Brandt, West German Chancellor, gave Brezhnev the idea for Detente.

President Richard M. Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger were the architects of the United States' plan for Detente.

President Gerald Ford took over the office after Nixon resigned and signed the treaty in 1975.

Foreign Policy

The U.S. Foreign policy of, reduction of arms and building better relations seem to contradict each other.

Event Resolved?

Detente was successful in the long run.

Rate the event: 1. Warlike. 2. Increased Tensions. 3. Neutral. 4. Decreased Tensions. 5. Peaceful.

Nixon's Trip to China 1972

Description

Nixon's trip to China was a step toward dealing with communist countries and opening the doors of communications. Since Mao Tse Tung took China's leadership role in the 1950s, the United States had argued that Taiwan's Nationalist government was representative of all of China. Nixon softened this notion, eased trade and became the first American President to visit Beijing.

President involved

Richard M. Nixon

People involved:

President Richard M. Nixon made the historical visit

Henry Kissinger was responsible for opening the doors to tals with China

Mao Tse Tung, the Chinese leader of godlike status who began to soften his communist views somewhat by the time of Nixon's visit.

Foreign Policy

Nixon's China visit was in-line with the Foreign Policy of building better relationships with communist countries.

Event Resolved?

Nixon's visit was somewhat successful in beginning to build a relationship

Rate the event: 5. Peaceful.

Nixon's Trip to China 1972

Description

SALT I was the treaty signed on May 26, 1972, at the end of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in Moscow (SALT I, Wikipedia). The talks took place between the Soviet Union and the United States in order to come to an agreement on arms reduction.

President involved

Richard M. Nixon

People involved:

President Richard M. Nixon participated in the talks

Mao Tse Tung, leader of China who received Nixon into his country.

Foreign Policy

The signing of the SALT I Treaty was in-line with the Foreign Policy of building better relationships with communist countries.

Event Resolved?

SALT I gave way to SALT II and the talks were eventually successful

Rate the event:. 4. Decreased Tensions

Helsinki Accords of 1975

Description group of thirty-five representatives of thirty-five nations signed the Helsinki Accords as an agreement on human rights, in Helsinki, Finland. The Accord outlined fundamental freedoms and the States respect for these rights, regardless of the human's religion, race, sex or language. The Accord also bound nations to promote and encourage civil, political, economic, social and other rights which are part of human dignity. The Accord also recognized the Soviet Border which included the Baltic States (The Helsinki Accords). The third point was that the nations promised cooperation in regards to trade and cultural exchange.. Gerald Ford, Leonid Brezhnev and many other leaders met to sign the Final Act, which included three "baskets." The first declared European borders inviolable, codifying post-World War II European borders established in 1945. The second "basket" promised cooperation in trade and cultural exchange. The third guaranteed respect for fundamental human rights.

President involved

Gerald Ford

People involved:

Major signers of the accord included Gerald Ford, President of the United States and Leonid Breshnev, the Leonid Brezhnev, Moscow Communist Party Chief. The two signed the treaty to further the mission of Detente by creating friendly accords.

Foreign Policy

The Accord is in line with the mission of establishing better relationships between America and communist countries.

Event Resolved?

The event was successful because thirty-five nations signed the agreement.

Rate the event:. 5. Peaceful.

The Mayaguez Incident and Ford's Response

Description

The Mayaguez was a cargo ship that a Cambodian gunboat stopped about 60 miles off the mainland coast of Southeast Asia (about eight miles from Poulo Wai island in the Gulf of Siam. The incident took place a few weeks after the final scene in the Vietname war. Because of the loss of the war, America had lost credibility and President Gerald Ford saw the Mayaguez incident as a means for boosting America's credibility around the world. Gerald Ford decided to challenge the principle of

However, 41 people lost their lives to save the 40 crew members aboard the ship.
Rate the event: 1. Warlike.

The Energy Crisis and OPEC

Description

The energy crisis was a major issue during President Jimmy Carter's presidency. He believed that Americans were far too dependent on foreign oil. In 1977, Carter asked that Americans cut down on oil and gas use, conceived the Department of Energy and brought more than a hundred bills to Congress on energy conservation. These measures resulted in the National Energy Act that placed a tax on gas guzzling tires among other things. By 1979 America's demand for oil had lessened; however, The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) increased the cost of oil again. This caused a great strain on America's energy resources (Danzer).

President involved

Jimmy Carter

People involved:

President Jimmy Carter - created legislation to punish energy-intense energy users and reward conservationists

Members of OPEC - raised the price of oil

The American people - learned that oil is not a renewable source. The American's also began conserving energy.

Car manufacturers. The automobile industry began designing fuel-efficient cars.

Foreign Policy

Jimmy Carter's reaction regarding the energy crisis helped the United States become less dependent on foreign oil.

Event Resolved?

The event was resolved in some ways, such as the auto industry designing fuel-efficient cars and the price of oil eventually went down.

Rate the event: 3. Neutral..

Carter's Human Rights Policy

Description

Jimmy Carter used his presidency to further the issue of human rights. His foreign policy was one that advocated that other countries be held to the highest standard and that Americans should also adhere to a high standard. His policy led him to cancel America's participation in the 1980 Olympic games, which were held in Moscow, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

President involved

Jimmy Carter

People involved:

President Jimmy Carter

Foreign Policy

Carter's views on human rights as the issue relates to foreign policy were inconsistent with many foreign-policy actions that he took during his presidency. He aided Indonesia, the Philippines, El Salvador and Iran as their governments were involved in human-rights violations (Cohen).

Event Resolved?

Human Rights' abuses were not resolved.

Rate the event:. 5. Peaceful.

Panama Canal Treaty of 1977

Description

On September 7, 1977 Jimmy Carter signed the treaty that provided that America would give up control of the Panama Canal by the year 2000 and that the Panama Canal guaranteed its neutrality (Panama Canal Treaty).

President Involved

Jimmy Carter

People involved:

President Jimmy Carter signed the treaty

Panamanian Chief of Government Omar Torrijos signed the treaty.

President Nixon began negotiations under pressure by the United Nations Security council.

President Ford stepped up treaty negotiations, only to become deadlocked on issues such as territory for American bases.

Foreign Policy

The Panama Canal treaty helped ease tensions between the United States and Panama that had been festering since 1908.

Event Resolved?

The event was resolved with the signing of the treaty and the United States' eventual withdrawal.

Rate the event: 5. Peaceful.

Description

The primary agreement of the SALT II treaty was to provide equal numbers of strategic nuclear delivery vehicles between the United States and the Soviet Union. The treaty called for a process of reducing of these vehicles and to impose restraints on nuclear developments that might threaten the two nations. The first breakthrough in talks took place in Vladivostok, Russia in 1974. The final agreement was signed in Vienna in 1979.

President Involved

Jimmy Carter

Gerald Ford

Ronald Reagan

People involved:

President Gerald Ford began the process of SALT II.

General Secretary Brezhnev, architect and signer of the agreement.

Secretary Vance, and Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko attended talks to agree on the Treaty language.

President Jimmy Carter negotiated and signed the agreement; then he asked Congress to delay ratification after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan..

President Ronald Reagan declared that the Soviet Union had violated the treaty.

Foreign Policy

The treaty was consistent with United States' policy to slow down the arms' race.

Event Resolved?

SALT II was not ratified due to a shift in United States' policy under President Reagan and the Soviet Union's lack of desire to abide by the treaty.

Rate the event:. 2. Increased Tensions. 4

Soviet Invasion and War in Afghanistan

Description

The war took place between 1979-89 in Afghanistan. In 1978 a coup brought in a new Communist government. In 1979 another coup brought in another leader, which caused the Soviet Union to invade and install Hafizullah Amin in December 1979. The Soviets put in Babrak Karmal as…