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The failure of Triangular Diplomacy: Richard Nixon and the Indian-Pakistan war of 1971

Posted on:2007-11-09Degree:M.AType:Thesis
University:California State University, FullertonCandidate:Gibson, PatrickFull Text:PDF
GTID:2456390005989995Subject:History
Abstract/Summary:
Analyzes Richard Nixon's concept of Triangular Diplomacy and how it failed in a regional conflict, the India/Pakistan War of 1971. By looking at declassified documents from the State Department and memoirs from key participants, the author demonstrates that Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger tried to used triangular diplomacy to curtail the India/Pakistan War of 1971. Nixon and Kissinger failed to realize that India and Pakistan were not proxies for the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. Nixon and Kissinger believed that if they sided with Pakistan, they would be siding with China, and they could play China off the Soviet Union. Nixon and Kissinger were the only policymakers during this regional conflict, and Nixon was wholly dependent on Kissinger's reading of the facts that they failed to see the true issue at stake.
Keywords/Search Tags:Triangular diplomacy, Richard nixon, Failed, Kissinger, Regional conflict
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