Richard Nixon's Foreign Policy During the Cold War - Essay Example

Elsewhere, communist political influence was spreading further in Latin America. The rise of Marxist leader Salvador Allende in Chile during 1970 was troubling the United States. By this time, President Nixon developed his own foreign policy called the “Nixon Doctrine.” In his speech, President Nixon (1969) stated these points as his main focus in foreign policy: Before any American troops were committed to Vietnam, a leader of another Asian country expressed this opinion to me when I was traveling in Asia as a private citizen.

He said: "When you are trying to assist another nation defend its freedom, U.S. policy should be to help them fight the war but not to fight the war for them." Well, in accordance with this wise counsel, I laid down in Guam three principles as guidelines for future American policy toward Asia: - First, the United States will keep all of its treaty commitments. - Second, we shall provide a shield if a nuclear power threatens the freedom of a nation allied with us or of a nation whose survival we consider vital to our security.

- Third, in cases involving other types of aggression, we shall furnish military and economic assistance when requested in accordance with our treaty commitments. . The goal of Nixon’s foreign policy is to provide military and technical support to nations who are against Communist influence without sending US military personal to participate. Any direct intervention by the US military towards such conflicts would increase tensions to the already heated international political environment. Despite Nixon’s seemingly hawkish approach toward Communist nations, he found that realistic diplomatic approaches were also necessary.

Nixon knew that resorting to military action against Soviet Russia and China would be catastrophic, even though it was clear that the Russians and Chinese were helping North Vietnam fight the US forces in South Vietnam. Regardless, there were heated tensions between Soviet Russia and China during that period. Research by Gilliland (2006) pointed that “as a realist, Nixon saw the potential benefits of a new relationship with China as a way to pressure the Soviets on many issues, and to expand trade between both nations” (p.14). Nixon’s foreign policy doctrine had various effects.

First, it brought the era of Detente during the Cold War. The detente was the foreign policy of Nixon. Its purpose is to work on and improve a diplomatic atmosphere of cooperation and normalization between the United States and the communist nations of Soviet Russia and China. A report made by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center (2012) conveyed: The announcement that the President would make an unprecedented trip to Beijing caused a sensation among the American people, who had seen little of the world's most populous nation since the Communists had taken power.

Nixon's visit to China in February 1972 was widely televised and heavily viewed. It was only a first step, but a decisive one, in the budding