1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910451841503321

Autore

Tucker Nancy Bernkopf

Titolo

The China threat [[electronic resource] ] : memories, myths, and realities in the 1950s / / Nancy Bernkopf Tucker

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : Columbia University Press, c2012

ISBN

0-231-52819-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (313 p.)

Disciplina

327.73051

Soggetti

International relations

Electronic books.

China Foreign relations United States

United States Foreign relations 1953-1961

United States Foreign relations China

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction: The Myth -- Part I. The Players and the Context -- 1. Eisenhower's World -- 2. Fire, Brimstone, and John Foster Dulles -- 3. Constraints -- Part II. The Practice -- 4. Fear of Communism -- 5. No Inherent Worth -- 6. Diplomatic Complexities -- 7. In Moscow's Shadow -- 8. "The Perils of Soya Sauce" -- 9. Back to the Strait -- 10. Waging Cold War -- Conclusion: The Memory -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Nancy Bernkopf Tucker confronts the coldest period of the cold war-the moment in which personality, American political culture, public opinion, and high politics came together to define the Eisenhower Administration's policy toward China. A sophisticated, multidimensional account based on prodigious, cutting edge research, this volume convincingly portrays Eisenhower's private belief that close relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China were inevitable and that careful consideration of the PRC should constitute a critical part of American diplomacy. Tucker provocatively argues that the Eisenhower Administration's hostile rhetoric and tough actions toward China obscure the president's actual views. Behind the



scenes, Eisenhower and his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, pursued a more nuanced approach, one better suited to China's specific challenges and the stabilization of the global community. Tucker deftly explores the contradictions between Eisenhower and his advisors' public and private positions. Her most powerful chapter centers on Eisenhower's recognition that rigid trade prohibitions would undermine the global postwar economic recovery and push China into a closer relationship with the Soviet Union. Ultimately, Tucker finds Eisenhower's strategic thinking on Europe and his fear of toxic, anticommunist domestic politics constrained his leadership, making a fundamental shift in U.S. policy toward China difficult if not impossible. Consequently, the president was unable to engage congress and the public effectively on China, ultimately failing to realize his own high standards as a leader.