Realpolitik has been an important idea in foreign policy for centuries. The idea was originally thought of by the philosopher Machiavelli who believed that rulers should employ whatever tactics needed to achieve their goals, regardless of ideology. This was employed in the 19th century as well, with Otto Von Bismarck attempting to grow the Prussian empire by using realpolitik. In the US, however, realpolitik was made popular during the Nixon presidency.
In 1971, the US was fearful due to the Red Scare, which was associated with the spread of communism after the Second World War. As a result of this, the US initially avoided being diplomatic with communist countries, and only sought to be “hard” on communism. However, in 1971, Richard Nixon announced that he would visit China, which was a communist country. This marked a vast change in the foreign policy of Nixon, as, since the rise of Chinese-communism in the late ‘40’s, Nixon had protested attempts to be diplomatic with the Chinese. He took a very strong stance against being diplomatic with communist countries, in order to win the ideological battle.
However, the Vietnam War changed that. As a result of the massive losses, Henry Kissinger (Nixon’s advisor who was credited with pushing realpolitik) saw negotiation with China as a potential way to negotiate an end to the war with North Vietnam, whom China was allied with. He also hoped that China could help the US against Russia at a later time. Kissinger did not care about ideological concerns, he just did what was right for the US.
While realpolitik was a large shift in foreign policy, its usage was not as effective in this specific instance. The Chinese did not help the US gain much negotiation ground with North Vietnam, and the Vietnam War would not stop for another two years. In addition, they did not really help the US’ relation with the Soviets. However, Kissinger’s policy did help Nixon’s popularity, which had been lacking because of the war.
However, realpolitik has continued to influence the US foreign policy even afterwards. During the Cold War’s height, the US had a policy of supporting dictatorships that were anti-communist, despite the US being against human rights violations. This shows how Nixon’s presidency has continued to influence events in politics.
Give Me Liberty
https://books.google.com/books?id=CXZCdsSlRLcC&pg=PA31#v=onepage&q&f=false
Very useful post Rushil! First off all the way you give background information regarding the Red Scare and America was a good setup for your overall argument about Realpolitik. I like how each paragraph sort of counter arguments the one before by showing how the Russian politics had influence in American society. Overall good post and it gave me a better insight about Realpolitik I did not learn in class.
ReplyDeleteNice post about an important type of foreign policy which the US has implemented regularly throughout its history. I found it surprising that Nixon's standing in the public eye improved as a result of his negotiations with China, even though nothing came from it. Was the US no longer intent on being "hard on communism" and did the US instead want to open negotiations with the communist countries which they had opposed for so long?
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