Linkage (policy)
Encyclopedia
Linkage was a policy
pursued by the United States of America, championed by Richard Nixon
and Henry Kissinger
, during the 1970s period of Cold War
Détente
which aimed to persuade the Soviet Union
and Communist China
to co-operate in restraining revolutions in the Third World
in return for concessions in nuclear
and economic
fields. The policy was, however, fundamentally undermined due to the amount of revolutions occurring during this time wholly independent of Soviet involvement.
The premise behind linkage, as a policy, was to connect political and military issues, thereby establishing a relationship making progress in area "A" dependent on progress in area "B."
An important aspect of this policy was that deviations from respecting the rights and interests would go punished. The intent of such action is to bring home to the offending state the limitations of acceptable international behaviour and demonstrate that attempts at expansion (and upsetting international stability) would go punished. In this way, conflict itself would contribute to stabilizing the international order.
The Nixon-Kissinger approach did not link foreign and domestic arenas.
Selective relaxation of tensions is an opposing policy to linkage. Then, an issue of arms control could be addressed and tension diminished while maintaining the status quo in other strategic areas.
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
pursued by the United States of America, championed by Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
, during the 1970s period of Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
Détente
Détente
Détente is the easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation. The term is often used in reference to the general easing of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1970s, a thawing at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War...
which aimed to persuade the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Communist China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to co-operate in restraining revolutions in the Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
in return for concessions in nuclear
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
and economic
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
fields. The policy was, however, fundamentally undermined due to the amount of revolutions occurring during this time wholly independent of Soviet involvement.
The premise behind linkage, as a policy, was to connect political and military issues, thereby establishing a relationship making progress in area "A" dependent on progress in area "B."
An important aspect of this policy was that deviations from respecting the rights and interests would go punished. The intent of such action is to bring home to the offending state the limitations of acceptable international behaviour and demonstrate that attempts at expansion (and upsetting international stability) would go punished. In this way, conflict itself would contribute to stabilizing the international order.
The Nixon-Kissinger approach did not link foreign and domestic arenas.
Selective relaxation of tensions is an opposing policy to linkage. Then, an issue of arms control could be addressed and tension diminished while maintaining the status quo in other strategic areas.
Further reading
- Diplomacy (Kissinger)Diplomacy (Kissinger)Diplomacy is a 1994 book written by former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. It is a sweep of the history of international relations and the art of diplomacy, largely concentrating on the 20th century and the Western World...
(1994) ISBN 0-671-65991-X, pp 716-721 - Kissinger: A Biography by Walter Isaacson (1992) ISBN 0-671-66323-2