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Summary Of Chapter 5 Of American Foreign Relations

2650 Words11 Pages

Braden Black
HIST-T325
Professor Nashel
April 30, 2023
US and the World Final
Section 1: Chapter 5 of American Foreign Relations: A Very Short Introduction by Andrew Preston introduces a new term as the world is ushered into the Cold War era. “Superpower” is the term used to describe the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II came to a close. This is a perfect term because of the sheer dominance the two nations held over the rest of the world, especially after all of the economic and military losses World War II brought to the other world powers. “The gulf in power between these two new geopolitical giants and all other states was so great that the United States and the USSR both earned a new classification: superpower. …show more content…

These similarities are frustrating because of the vast amount of destruction and violence both wars caused. In Preston’s introduction, he states, “Two of the most pervasive national myths are that the United States wages war infrequently and that it is slow to go to war. In reality, Americans have often resorted to armed force to achieve their goals, at first on the North American continent and then around the world” (Preston 3). This violent nature has been a dark side of US foreign policy since its beginning during the Revolutionary War with Great Britain. When diplomacy fails, war has automatically been the next answer no matter what the circumstances. In this case, America's goal was to stunt the growth of communism in Asia, and the Soviet Union was the leading factor of that ideological …show more content…

The final years of Vietnam brought the Nixon administration to the white house. Richard Nixon realized the toll Vietnam was taking on America and its citizens and after initially expanding on his predecessor's efforts to win the war, he decided to take a new approach. Nixon began to relax the relations with the communist countries of China and the Soviet Union. He hoped that relaxing all of the tension the Cold War had built up would eventually lead the Northern Vietnamese to settle for an end to the Vietnam War. “I am frank to say that this visit was a very moving experience. The historic aspects of the occasion; the warmth and dignity of the Chinese; the splendor of the Forbidden City, Chinese history and culture; the heroic stature of Chou En-lai; and the intensity and sweep of our talks combined to make an indelible impression on me and my colleagues” (Engel 296). This is Secretary of State Henry Kissinger discussing his trip to China to begin these relaxed conversations with Zouh Enlai. Unfortunately for the United States, this plan did not work as they were forced to leave Vietnam and the North reunified the country for

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