A Critical Analysis of the Key National Security Issues Faced in the Post-Vietnam War Period

President Richard M. Nixon’s administration had to face many international and domestic challenges in the United States between 1968 and 1974, some positive and some negative. His achievements in expanding peaceful relationships with both China and the Soviet Union are contrastingly different with his continuation of the Vietnam War. In the end, Nixon’s scandals and abuse of presidential power caught up to him, and his administration did much to corrode America’s faith in the government.

The view by some historians is that The Dwight Eisenhower foreign policy was popularly known as the “New Look”. This policy aimed to maintain the American financial economy while Eisenhower was planning the Cold war and continue the containment of communism regime. Also, the “New look” policy relied heavily on nuclear weapons to stop communism. Therefore the policy was been assessed as being suppressing, rigid, and too dependent on brinkmanship (trying to achieve an outcome by pushing dangerous events to the brink) and massive retaliation (also known as a massive response, this is a military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack). Arguably, his foreign policy stressed peace greatly, but it also threatened war (brinkmanship and massive retaliation).

This was considered his biggest foreign policy crisis, and damaged his presidency, as he was considered to handle the situation inappropriately. Carter also made attempts to improve relations with the Soviet Union, but instead exacerbated the situation, and Carter’s commitment to human rights divided the United States and the Soviet Union further. Matters worsened when Carter tried to pass SALT II, limiting weapons further then set by SALT I.

Which followed through to Ford’s Administration and the Carter Administration. As well as the illegal bombing of Cambodia. Carter gets harassed about his evidence of his failed foreign policy because of the Iranian Hostage crisis, which was not handled well, and the credit for the solution belonged to Reagan.

The United States foreign policy has changed a lot throughout history. The Vietnam War changed foreign policy regarding military force in a huge way. The Government must be more careful when to use military force. Some Government officials who served in Vietnam use it as a reminder (Document 8). American Citizen’s opinions must also be taken into consideration. The Government can not afford to try and keep secrets. America must be careful to avoid Vietnam syndrome and prevent war from happening as shown in Document 9 with the Gulf

When discussing Eisenhower, Gaddis details the massive retaliation policy adopted by Eisenhower and John Dulles. “The New Look’ as it is referred to, was instead of building up the military by providing more men, instead it would be cost effective to build up arms, and threaten nuclear attacks if the Soviets attempted to influence other areas across the globe and spread communism. With Kennedy and Johnson both, the return to NSC-68 and Vietnam are covered by Gaddis. With more military and economic support for preventing communism, troops were spread to places in Vietnam specifically and across the globe attempting to resist communist forces in many places. This ‘flexible response’ was in essence reducing the power of the army as a whole. The defeat in Vietnam and the flexible response method used by Kennedy and Johnson was judged harshly by Gaddis. The final administration covered by Gaddis was the Nixon presidency. This period, known as Détente, signals a return to Kennan’s approach to an extent while combining policies from the Kennedy and Johnson diplomacy. Nixon and Kissinger worked towards establishing international rules of conduct in which the Soviets and China would soon follow promptly and the balance of powers in the world would provide for stability.

George Herring 's article " The legacy of Vietnam" talks about the military clash between the communist North Vietnam, backed by its allies and the government of South Vietnam, backed by the United States and other countries that are anti-communist that happened in Vietnam during Richard Nixon 's presidency. The Vietnam War was a terrible war, especially for Vietnamese because a millions of them died during the war. The author not just describes the war itself; he also analyzes the killing and the attack that occurred during the war. In general the Vietnam War was the most costly war contrast to other wars and it was the most shocking eras in American history. The Vietnam War had an impact in American history. It brought fear from the war

When the Vietnam War finally came to an end in 1975, it left a lasting impression in minds of many Americans. Not only did about forty-seven thousand American soldiers lose their lives, but the United State government also spent a hundred and seventy-three billion dollars for a failed war effort. With intervention in Vietnam becoming increasingly ineffective, America decided it was time for a change in its military strategies. The most important changes that following the Vietnam War were: a more restricted foreign affairs policy, a decrease in defense spending, and a transition to an all-volunteer force.

On the other extreme is Jimmy Carter, president from 1977 to 1981. Ranked last for both his foreign affairs and his overall presidency, Carter left the Oval Office a very unpopular man. Carter’s sole accolade came from the Camp David Accords of 1978-9. Carter invited Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian prime minister Anwar Sadat to Camp David, the presidential retreat, to work out an agreement. Carter played a major role in the negotiations, mediating a dispute that resulted in a peace treaty, that is still intact to this day. Not only did this agreement lay down a long-held peace between two neighboring countries, but it also solidified U.S. ties in the Middle-East. Carter’s other policies and actions are very different, such as the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. These treaties between Panama and the U.S. granted Panama control over the Canal as of 1999 for almost nothing in response. The conservatives of Americans felt as though Carter had “given away” the Canal without receiving anything in return, and this made them believe that our nation was becoming weak under his power. The people’s “Crisis of Confidence” clearly and accurately portrays the conservative’s opinions during Carter’s presidency.

The Vietnam War caused one of the great shifts in U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. would no longer be the "world's policeman," which was how she viewed herself since the Second World War. She would no longer recklessly jump militarily into the affairs of other countries, even if major problems occurred, including Communist uprisings or human rights violations. The U.S. government would make more careful

The Vietnam War is widely regarded as the lowest point in the history of U.S. foreign affairs. It mercilessly dragged an unwilling country on a fatal ride for twenty years, all while receiving low approval ratings and high funding. The Vietnam conflict served as an optimum environment for the virus of controversy. No one has more experience with controversy than Heinz Alfred Kissinger. He is the ultimate pragmatist, as embodying his philosophy of realpolitik, a diplomatic ideology based on utilitarianism rather than international ethical standards. When one’s political calling card downplays the role of ethics in diplomacy, that individual is bound to garner a high profile reputation. Kissinger himself has lamented the national predicament during this conflict—squeezed between the ultimate rock, his duty to keep peace, and hard place, his duty to act with the approval of the American people. This predicament was rooted in an omnipresent opposition to Communism, as was America’s role in the entire Cold War. Cold War politics were politics of fear. That fear drove competition, which bred a certain variety of leader – a logical, calculating politician with regard for nothing but his country’s success. To avoid an uncontrollable spread of Communism through the westernized world, some moral casualties were strewn about the wayside. However, the American public had no trouble rolling up their collective sleeves to back this forward-thinking activist. In more recent years, some

The Cold War era proxy war known as the Vietnam War wrecked global havoc during 1955-1975. Although the destruction on the ground occurred in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, the bloodshed of the war was just one part of a much larger worldwide communism versus capitalism battle headed by the United States and the Soviet Union. For the U.S., diplomatic and military policies had never before been so tightly intertwined with domestic policies. The war in Vietnam had such an impact on the home front in America that the term, “The Vietnam Syndrome” is still repeated to this day. The war, which is sometimes seen as a part of the larger anti-communist policy of ‘containment’, is largely to blame for the near destruction of three presidencies, as well as causing numerous political and social divides, a detrimental effect on the U.S. economy, and a credibility gap that caused distrust between government and the people. The focus on the war meant that many domestic issues such as the civil rights movement, the war on poverty, and Johnson’s ideology of the ‘Great Society’, were neglected by the government and therefore limited in their progress. The overall domestic impact of the war in Vietnam was largely negative and extremely divisive.

The Reagan Doctrine was the foreign policy in the United States, legislated by President Ronald Reagan. This doctrine was design to eliminate the communist governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America that were indorsed and validated by the Soviet Union. This assignment will summarize how the United States provided open and private support to guerrilla and resistance movements during the Regan years. In addition, explicate the diplomatic doctrine specific events that occurred in Afghanistan when the Soviet Union invaded. Finally, this assignment will describe the advantages and disadvantages based on the Regan Doctrine. Summarize The Situation of U.S. Diplomatic of The Regan Doctrine Throughout the opening years of the Cold War, Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter all sanctioned policies against communism in order to contain it. Ronald Regan rejected their détente policy in 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. This alone proved that policies that only contain communism were ineffective. Regan disapproved in the compromise policy when it came to any communist government. Instead, Reagan proposed the Rollback strategy. The making of the Reagan Doctrine shifted from containment and spreading to eliminating all current communist governments. Furthermore, the United States wanted to increase and encourage democracy and capitalism in replacement of ousted communistregimes (Conservapedia, 2012).Implementation of the Regan Doctrine was to provide

The United States of America’s foreign policy has been related to the Middle East since the end of World War II. The conflict has primarily been to stop the spread of communism not only in the Middle East, but also in the world as a whole. Communism has been the core dispute in American history and is still prominent in today's society. Some would argue that the specific conflicts in history directly relate to the acting president's philosophy. Based on this, historians can determine what shaped America's foreign policy. Some discovered changes in the philosophy when each conflict arose, yet it seems to shift every time a new president comes along. While historians focus on how each event has prompted a specific response from the president;

January 1969, Richard Nixon entered the executive office picking up the pieces Lyndon Johnson who had left while the Vietnam War was still in effect. Many Americans had the expectation that Nixon would be the “peaceful president”, visualizing he would put an end to this war in Southeast Asian and bring back home our troops. A policy Nixon redefined was the American role in the world by suggesting to limit the U.S resources and commitments. Therefore, Nixon’s set his efforts to end the war since the withdrawal from Vietnam was not an immediate option. Also, Nixon had his radar on Moscow and China because according to George C. Herring, they felt that they must release the United States from the war in a way that would uphold United States credibility with their friends and foes alike. During Nixon’s term in office, he tries a number of different strategies in his effort to end the war, but to this day, one can see that Nixon only prolonged the war when it could have ended earlier.