foriegn policy

cuban missile crisis

• The most dangerous moment in human history

  • 13 day stand between oct16- oct 27

    • missiles over 1000 miles range, excomm thought that missiles did not merit a milt response

  • massive effect

    • president kennedys reaction firm and diplomatic

• Options:

  • do nothing

  • diplomacy

  • warning

  • blockade

  • air strike

  • invasion

• quatine or blockade alternative to militiary strikes

  • naval blockade, communicating w Krushchev

• removal of missiles in turkey

Berlin Crisis

major cold war confrontation sparked by soviet premier Nikita Krushchevs ultimatum for Western forces to leave west berlin

• massive outflow of east germin citizens to the west culminating in the construction of berlin wall august 1961

  • potsdam conference- setting stage for cold war and post war borders between germany, US, UK and USSR and Japan

• USSR tries expanding , integration, blockade

  • soviets begin baby blockade into west berlkin

    • shambles, 5 weeks left of resources for the population in berlin

• US helps with airlifts with suplies, truman saw crisis as a great victory

  • west and east germany were formally separated days of the crisis ending

Vietnam 1 & 2

Uncle Ho, Ho Chi Minh found the indochinese communist part

• league of independence, independent from north vietnam

  • PRoC and SU formally recognize the Communist democratic republic of vietnam and both begin to supply economic and military aid

• Truman identifies it as a communist threat

• Eisenhower- domino effect in southeast asia

  • geneva conference- agreement between cambodia, DR o vietnam, france, laos, and PRoC USSR UK and US, dividing SOuth and north vietnam

• viet cong- vietnamese comunist

  • sends troops and military forces first casualties 1959

    • kennedy assassination and johnson assumes office in 1962

  • escalation was at risk

    • gulf of tonkin incident

      • increasingly isolated and unstable south vietnam

  • operation rolling thunder

    • against north vietnam

  • alot of casualties, underestimate the miltiary power of vietnam, and overestimate the power us had

US CHINA Rapprochement

US does not have diplomatic relations w beijing

• nixon wants to reduce danger of confrontation and conflict

• a more stable asia

• a restraint USSR

  • equilibrium

• status of taiwan

  • exploiting the Sino-Soviet split following border clashes

• meetings within shanghai, counter soviet influence

  • shift of containment and diplomatic engagement, massive economic interdependence

national security strategy bush administration

9/11 happens

• national security strategy published

  • march 2003 US launches war against Iraq

    • single sutainable model for national success: freedom, democracy and free enterprise

  • preventative war: greater threat needs ti be stopped for inaction, more harmful and scary

    • preemptive: more legal way of war

  • Joint cedicion making- over the word and “or” because it would mean more things to tick of in order to do preventative war.

  • american primacy, war on terror, democracy for the better

  • military breech.

  • allows war to happen faster