Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon - Research Paper Example

He took over the responsibility of the secretary to the state and as the president’s advisor. This paper will highlight the contribution of President Nixon and Kissinger in the events surrounding the cold war. Kissinger was responsible for the implementation of majority of the diplomatic decisions that he discussed with the president. Although they worked together and made very crucial decisions, they did not trust each other. There was distrust between them and behind each other’s name; they threw insults at each other.

President Nixon took advantage of the Jewish factor in Kissinger. Nixon always suspected that Kissinger was not completely honest with security matters. Despite this distrust, they plotted out a Cambodian mission during the Vietnam War. America indulged in the Vietnam War in support of the southern Vietnam that had not conformed to communism. The Vietnam War had its influence from the cold war. The Soviet Union had exerted its influence on the northern Vietnam while America was supporting the south.

The two global powers sought to establish allies in this war depending on the whether country was willing to adopt communism or capitalism (Tudda, 2012). One of the policies involved the detente policy between the Soviet Union and China. Nixon and Kissinger wanted to establish a solution to the increasing tension in the cold war that was persisting at the time. Since America’s economic growth was becoming very slow during Nixon’s second term, he sought to establish ways in which he would reduce the tension of the war without additional expenses on the military (Tudda, 2012).

Therefore, Kissinger and Nixon plotted the detente strategy. Implementation of the detente policy involved secret travels and negotiations with China. This strategy sought to convince the Soviet Union and China to withdraw the communist influence on northern Vietnam. Both Kissinger and Nixon made efforts to rebuild the strained relationship with China in order to ease the cold war tension. Although the initial attempts found China unyielding, the persistent diplomatic persuasion from Kissinger and Nixon would bear fruit in the end.

However, it was not easy because Taiwan emerged to be an issue. There was a debate on whether Taiwan would adopt the policy as part of China or as an independent identity. It became confusing to determine whether the Sino-American negotiations were seeking to establish a solution for only China or the solution would apply to Taiwan (Burr, 2002). Nixon and Kissinger targeted to use the polycentrism of the socialist society to their advantage. Their China negotiations opened a triangular front of diplomacy.

The strategy’s main objective was to open up ways in which America could continue exerting its foreign policies. In addition, the new policy would minimize the use of weapons by the two global powers. Some analysts view the strategy as one that implied level of political maturity. Others question the real intentions of Kissinger and Nixon. However, it commendable that the policies eased the tension of the war largely giving the American people some hopes (Banyan, 2007). In addition, Nixon and Kissinger made more move s in ending the Vietnam War.

Both South and North Vietnam and Cambodia had formed Indochina. The southern and northern Vietnam were fighting to gain autonomy from the