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Foreign Policy
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Detente with China (1972)
President Nixon and National Security Advisor Kissinger travelled to China in February 1972 in an attempt to deal with the Soviet Union and China separately, instead of grouping them together as one communist power. The United States chose to recognize communist China as a country for the first time and established better diplomatic relations with the Chinese. -
Detente With the Soviet Union
Nixon and Kissinger travelled to Moscow in May 1972. There, the diplomatic meeting ended with a Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. This treaty was an agreement between the Soviet Union and United States to stop making nuclear weapons, as well as decrease the pre-existing arsenals each country owned. -
U.S. Aid to Isreal
When Syria attacked Israel on October 6, 1973, the Yom Kippur War began. Nixon agreed to requests to send aid to Israel, which allowed the Israelis to cross the Suez Canal and force Egypt’s president to end the war. However, in response to the U.S. aid, the Middle East cut off oil shipments to the West, greatly hurting the American economy and forcing them to take a friendlier stance towards the Arab world. -
Paris Peace Accords (1973)
The Paris Peace Accords of 1973, representing an end to the Vietnam War, were an agreement between the United States, North, and South Vietnam to end the war. Earlier agreements had been proposed but rejected as South Vietnam felt they gave the North too much power. The Accords agreed to a ceasefire January 28, 1973, 60 days for U.S. troops to be withdrawn and all war prisoners released, allowing the South Vietnamese people to decide their political future, and peaceful reunification of Vietnam. -
Camp David Accords (1978)
In September 1978, President Carter sought a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt and so asked leaders of both countries to come to Camp David. There, a treaty was negotiated where Israel agreed to withdraw from once Egyptian territory captured in 1967, and in turn, Egypt recognized Israel as a country. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
In 1979, militants in Iran captured United States citizens at the American embassy and held them hostage. They demanded the former shah, who had fled to American protection, be returned for trial as a traitor and the shah's wealth be given to the Iranian government. When President Carter refused, the crisis continued, with a failed rescue attempt, until the hostages were released in 1981. -
US Joins Persian Gulf War (1990)
In August 1990, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq attacked Kuwait, an oil-rich area. After Kuwait had been annexed, Hussein massed troops near Saudi Arabia. The response was a call for aid (from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) to the United States and other nations. President George Bush responded with troops in November 1990, and helped to retake Kuwait. However, unlike what popular opinion called for, Bush did not fully destroy Hussein’s army or remove him from power. -
The Cold War Ends With the Fall of the Soviet Union
In 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated into separate European states. President Gorbachev of the Soviet Union refused to force nations to keep communist governments in power. Swiftly following, and for the most part peacefully, communist governments were removed from power. As anticommunist groups demanded more power in the Soviet Union, a coup (by communists) was attempted. This coup collapsed and was followed by the disbanding of the communist party and the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War. -
The Second Iraq War
After 9/11 in 2001, President Bush took immediate action to prepare for an attack on Iran, ruled by Saddam Hussein at the time. Bush gained support from Congress for a war, then sought approval from the United Nations and was joined by Italy, Spain, Great Britain, and several other countries. American missiles were first dropped on March 20, 2003, and later, in April, the capital Baghdad was captured. Saddam and his government disappeared but Iraq was left in chaos. -
Obama Increases Troops in Afghanistan
The United States first entered Afghanistan in Bush’s presidency to fight the Taliban. After the short time spent there in 2001, it seemed the Taliban were driven from power. However, under the weak presidency of Hamid Karzai, the Taliban resurged in Afghanistan as did Al-Qaeda. In late 2009, Obama made the decision to send 30,000 troops into Afghanistan but chaos continued.
