Current Events and US Diplomacy - Essay Example

Current Events and US Diplomacy The major foreign policy ideology in a president's tenure came to be known as the presidential doctrine mainly aimed at achieving certain foreign policy goals. President Nixon formulated his foreign policy doctrine during his tenure between 1969 and ‘74. When Nixon took office, the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Russia was at its peak due to latter's expansionary motives of spreading communism in different parts of the world. However, the world environment was changing at fast pace. Western Europe and Japan had gained new strengths. The colonial powers had withdrawal from most parts of the world. States had acquired the capacity to look after their own security and well-being. In Communist Bloc too, the countries had become more interested in pursuing their own regional interest instead of wasting resources to spread communist philosophy. Soviet Union had acquired matching nuclear strength as rested with the US. People within the US had also begun thinking that the burden of world leadership should also be shared by others too. Under these circumstances, the President Nixon declared his doctrine. During President Johnson's time, the US engaged in military involvement with countries to thwart a communist takeover. Before the Nixon took presidential office in 1969, the US was already at war in Vietnam for almost four years. In Vietnam War, American troops were directly involved and that gesture of the US became a great morale booster for Vietnamese in fighting with the communist forces. However, the fact remained that the US military forces had already lost over 25000 American soldiers along with hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese. In spite of such efforts, the US could not come out as victorious. Antiwar forces within the US were most vocal against the US government for the deployment of the US forces in Vietnam War. In such circumstances, Nixon assured US allies to honor treaty commitments (History.com, 2012). On the behest of Nixon Doctrine, it became amply clear that now South Vietnamese troops would have to fight on their own as the process of withdrawing American troops began after formal announcement. In keeping with this pronouncement, the US and North Vietnam signed a peace treaty in 1973 and it appeared that permanent peace will prevail in the area. However, two years later, in 1975, North Vietnamese forces demolished the South Vietnamese army bringing the whole country under communist rule (History.com, 2012). It is important to note that though the Communist Party ruled the Vietnam since 1975 yet the country moved from planned economy to a market economy in the '80s. In recent years, the US relations with Vietnam have improved significantly. However, several incidents are responsible for that. In 1991, Soviet Union collapsed and disintegrated into several independent states. Also, East Germany merged into West Germany to accelerate economic growth based on the free market trade systems. Countries within Communist Bloc in Eastern Europe changed their political ways by adopting democratic political system of governance and free market trade system as economic growth model. Just after the economic reforms began in Vietnam, the government introduced a new constitution in 1992 and thereafter, its relations with the US began improving significantly. The US trade and diplomatic relations with the Vietnam began soon thereafter. After Vietnam became politically normalized, the US relations with the country have been quite cooperative and extensive. Economic relations and trade between the US and Vietnam have been flourishing. It is important to note that Vietnam and the US tend to develop a free trade agreement between them and they have already entered into an investment and trade agreement besides signing air transport, textile and maritime agreements. The US imports a variety of goods from Vietnam such as footwear, apparel, furniture, seafood, agricultural products; similarly, it exports machinery products, vehicles, yarn and fabric. Thus, relations between the US and Vietnam has flourished significantly. Vietnam has been now a partner in the global initiative to thwart Nuclear Terrorism. It has also taken steps to install radiation detection systems to identify the weapons of mass destruction at its commercial port (US Relations with Vietnam, 2012). Nixon doctrine aimed at reducing American military involvement and accordingly, he facilitated training and equipped the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam to counter the challenges thrown by the Communists (Hickman, 2003). Withdrawal of American troops eased the tension in Southeast Asia and dialogue with Soviet Union and china could begin. It is important to notice, at this juncture, that Nixon doctrine was just a beginning in reducing the differences, tensions and apprehensions between two super powers. Even after signing several accords and agreements, the relationship between two superpowers continued to pass through rough weathers due to incidents that happened in Afghanistan, Poland. Things began changing drastically only when Gorbachev came into power in the Soviet Union in 1985. Both the countries began commercial flights into each other's territory. First time, in 1986, Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers were established in Moscow and Washington to minimize the misunderstanding resulting into a nuclear war. Both the countries agreed to a 50 percent reduction in deployment of strategic forces (Politics & Policy, 2012). The Nixon Doctrine had a gradual but significant impact on altering the behavior of Soviet Union during the time of Nixon and thereafter. In the month of October 1973, the Soviet Union, the US and the other NATO allies along with Warsaw Pact nations assembled in Vienna to agree on the need for Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction (MBFR) agreement so that forces in Europe could be reduced to lower levels. The Nixon doctrine gave further push to another summit meeting in mid 1974 with an aim to reduce the ABM defense site from two to one for both the parties. The major thrust came when Brezhnev and Nixon agreed for a 10-year time period for a SALT treaty that gave the way for the Vladivostok accord to take place. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972, a major success of Nixon Doctrine then, got a major boost when in 1987 both the countries agreed to eliminate Shorter-Range and Intermediate-Range Missiles from the scene (US Department of State, 2010). References Hickman, K. (2003). “Vietnam War: Nixon & Vietnamization”. Retrieved December 6, 2013 from http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/vietnamwar/a/VietnamViet.htm History.com (2012). Vietnam War. Retrieved December 6, 2013 from http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war Politics & Policy, (2012). US and Russia: A New Trade Policy? Retrieved December 6, 2013 from http://politicsandpolicy.org/article/us-and-russia-new-trade-policy US Department of State (2010). United States Relations with Russia: The Cold War. Retrieved December 6, 2013 from http://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/85895.htm US Relations with Vietnam (2012). US Department of State. Retrieved December 6, 2013 from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4130.htm Read More