Sino American Rapprochement

Document Type:Research Paper

Subject Area:Politics

Document 1

In his book, Valerie Hudson discusses various levels that can be used in foreign policy analysis. The individual decision-maker level of foreign policy analysis offers the most compelling explanation of the Sino-American rapprochement of 1972 because of the leaders’ interest in foreign policy through actions such as Mao’s invitation of the American table tennis team to China for exhibition matches and Nixon’s removal of all the restriction that limited Americans from traveling to mainland China. For a complete analysis of foreign policy leading to the Sino-American rapprochement of 1972, it is important to take into consideration the developments in the Cold War. The Cold War was a period of hostility and tension between the Soviet Union and the United States from the mid-40s to the late 80s.

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The War began after the Second World War when the USSR and the United States emerged as two Super Powers. The Cold War era in the People’s Republic of China is identical to the political supremacy of one man: Mao Zedong. To many analysts, “Cold War China” and “Mao’s China” are interchangeable terms. Mao’s long influential tenure in China between 1949 to 1976, had a significant influence on the developments of the Cold War in Asia and beyond. Therefore, in analyzing any major foreign policy involving China during the Cold War such as the Sino-American rapprochement of 1972, it is imperative to consider the individual characteristics of Mao Zedong. In the United States, President Nixon used his assistant for national security affairs, Henry Kissinger, to concentrate power within the presidency.

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Mao Zedong. The political dynamics in both China and the United States during the Cold War indicate that the decision for a meeting between Mao and Nixon was influenced by the interests of both leaders. In the 1972 rapprochement, the top leaders of both governments expressed interests of strengthening diplomatic ties between the states. Before the rapprochement, the worsening war in Vietnam made U. S. President, Mr. Nixon. In the same year, President Nixon removed all the restrictions that limited Americans from traveling to mainland China. In both cases, both individuals in the positions of leadership made decisions that implied a desire to strengthen diplomatic ties between the two states (Schaller 10). These actions by the leaders legitimate the application of the individual decision-maker level of foreign policy analysis in the Sino-American rapprochement of 1972.

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In this way, Nixon made the United States government seem like some sort of a dictatorial regime. Group Decision-Making This level of foreign policy analysis is premised in the concept that a single leader cannot make and implement a foreign policy by himself or herself regardless of how mercenary or influential that leader is. In most states, foreign policy decisions are made in group settings. Furthermore, these decisions are always made by certain organizations or a range of organizations that entail bureaucracies. Most high-profile foreign policy decisions are carried out in small groups containing about fifteen people or less (Hudson 74). Following the Sino-Soviet split in 1969, China considered the Soviet Union to pose more threats than the United States. As such, to counter Russia, China found it strategic to seek a closer relationship with the United States.

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On the other side, after Nixon took office in 1969, he started exploring possible rapprochement with China as part of his foreign policy to reduce the U. S. military involvement in Asia. Most areas concerning the effects of culture on international negotiations examine the effects of such international negotiations on value preferences and cultural differences. For instance, the Sino-American rapprochement of 1972, the government of China had to base its legitimacy on its morality and superior virtue. Therefore, it had to pass moral judgment on the conduct of the United States in the rapprochement. On the other hand, the United States likes to see itself as a model society that is free from the problems of the Old World, and capable of avoiding these problems in the attainment of its special destiny (Huntington 32).

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A major weakness of culture and national identity as a level of explaining foreign policy decision-making is the issue of potentially bearing negative moral judgment against another nation. The process entails complex series of steps where domestic politics play a key role. Therefore, domestic political contestation is an important level in explaining foreign policy decision-making. The domestic political environment in a nation includes all laws, lobbying groups, and government agencies that restrict or influence organizations or individuals in the society. (Hudson 141) argues that it is human nature to have different viewpoints and an unequal distribution of power in a society. As such, in a group of people, whether small or large, there has to be power struggles. National attributes National attributes entail elements that are often considered as the power of a nation-state: size, population characteristics, geography, and natural resources.

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These elements may affect the foreign policy decision-making process in various ways. For instance, the size of nation may affect the nation’s decision-making processes as well as its goals. For example, if a nation is aligned with a neighboring large nation, the size of the small nation may present an attractive foreign policy direction. In another example, if a small state is aligned in between two large states that are in conflict, the small state would find it ideal to remain neutral. In an anarchical international system, cooperation between nations is difficult, because there is no ground for establishing trust among the nations. Consequently, powerful states must be balanced by other states of alliances of states. To maintain the balance of power, the less powerful states must find ways of protecting themselves, often by forming alliances with the more powerful states.

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