Term
| Define 'Good Neighbor Policy' and give an example of its effects. |
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Definition
| The policy's main principle was that of non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of Latin America. championed by FDR. The Good Neighbor Policy terminated the U.S. Marines occupation of Nicaragua in 1933 and occupation of Haiti in 1934, led to the annulment of the Platt Amendment by the Treaty of Relations with Cuba in 1934, and the negotiation of compensation for Mexico's nationalization of foreign-owned oil assets in 1938. |
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Term
| Why did not the US Congress vote for the entry into the League of Nations when it was Wilson himself who proposed the organisation? |
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Definition
| The League of Nations was championed by President Woodrow Wilson in a fourteen-point speech to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918, and formally began its operations in January 1920. However, the League failed to win Senate approval and is forever remembered as a major example of a communications breakdown between the president and the Senate. Wilson wrote a letter urging Democrats to win majority in an election, claiming that a majority for Republicans would mean 'comfort for the Germans'. After the infuriated Republicans gained control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the stubborn president's proposal was swept off the table. |
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Term
| How did the US benefit from Washington Naval Conference and later the London Naval Conference? |
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Definition
| The agreement to limit naval military potential harmed Britain, the dominance of which was based solely on its sea forces. As a result, Britain would be weakened in the Middle and Far East territories. (The USA led an expansion race with Japan.) |
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Term
| Compare Truman Doctrine with Eisenhower Doctrine. |
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Definition
| Both are policies of containment, but are directed towards different regions of the world. 1947 - Truman supports Greece and Turkey. 1957 - Eisenhower supports Middle Eastern countries asking for help. Eisenhower doctrine enacted in Lebanon, which asked for help. |
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Term
| How would you characterize the Detente policy? |
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Definition
| the Detente policy was born in the aftermath of the Vietnam war - Nixon realized that more could be accomplished by means of more inclusive diplomacy. Height of Detente - 1975 - both superpowers agreed on respecting the division lines. After the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the two superpowers agreed to install a direct hotline between Washington D.C. and Moscow (the so-called red telephone), enabling leaders of both countries to quickly interact with each other in a time of urgency, and reduce the chances that future crises could escalate into an all-out war. The U.S./U.S.S.R. détente was presented as an applied extension of that thinking. The SALT II pact of the late 1970s continued the work of the SALT I talks, ensuring further reduction in arms by the Soviets and by the US. The Helsinki Accords, in which the Soviets promised to grant free elections in Europe, has been called a major concession to ensure peace by the Soviets. |
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Term
| To what extent did Detente indeed bring a 'relaxation' of the Cold war tension? |
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Definition
| While the direct US - SSSR relations became much more relaxed (Brezhnev in US, 1973), the conflict was replaced by surrogate conflicts in peripheral regions, namely South America and in Middle East. US prevented any leftward political changes in South America by supporting rightwing coups. Vietnam war was still raging. |
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Term
| How did Gerald Ford develop the Detente policy? |
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Definition
| He entered into the Helsinki accords. |
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Term
| Under what US President did US troops leave Vietnam? |
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Definition
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Term
| Why was Carter's foreign policy such a failure? |
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Definition
| He condemned Nixon and Ford's 'secretive and amoral' realist policies, opting instead for a more idealist standpoint. However, this lead to his disregard for military resources and overemphasis on human rights. When Iran's Shah was replaced by the revolutionary 'government' with the Ayatollah at the helm and the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Carter realized with a considerable delay that this situation could not be solved via emphasis on human rights. |
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