1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910964210503321

Autore

Kaufman Scott <1969->

Titolo

Confronting Communism : U.S. and British policies toward China / / Victor S. Kaufman

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Columbia, : University of Missouri Press, c2001

ISBN

0-8262-6356-9

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (287 p.)

Disciplina

327.73041

Soggetti

Communism - China - History

United States Foreign relations China

China Foreign relations United States

United States Foreign relations 1945-1989

Great Britain Foreign relations China

China Foreign relations Great Britain

United States Foreign relations Great Britain

Great Britain Foreign relations United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 243-260) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Intro -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- CONFRONTING COMMUNISM -- 1 FROM QUIESCENCE TO COMPLAINT, 1948-1950 -- 2 CONFLICT IN KOREA, 1950-1953 -- 3 NO MORE KOREAS Indochina and "Those Damned Little Islands," 1954-1955 3 -- 4 A SCHISM IN THE WIND, 1953-1956 -- 5 "OUR RELATIONSHIPS MUST BE RESTORED," 1957-1960 -- 6 WINDS OF CHANGE? 1961-1963 -- 7 LABOUR TO THE FORE, 1964-1966 -- 8 "A POSTURE OF QUIET REASONABLENESS," 1966-1968 -- 9 "THE WEEK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD," 1969-1972 9 -- CONFRONTING COMMUNISM -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX.

Sommario/riassunto

In Confronting Communism, Victor S. Kaufman examines how the United States and Great Britain were able to overcome serious disagreements over their respective approaches toward Communist China. Providing new insight into the workings of alliance politics, specifically the politics of the Anglo- American alliance, the book covers the period from 1948-a year before China became an area of



contention between London and Washington-through twenty years of division to the gradual resolution of Anglo-American divergences over the People's Republic of China beginning in the mid-1960s. It ends in 1972, the year of President Richard Nixon's historic visit to the People's Republic, and also the year that Kaufman sees as bringing an end to the Anglo-American differences over China. Kaufman traces the intricate and subtle pressures each ally faced in determining how to approach Beijing. The British aspect is of particular interest because Britain viewed itself as being within "three circles": Western Europe, the Atlantic alliance, and the Commonwealth. Important as well to British policy with respect to China was the concern about being dragged into another Korean-style conflict. The impact of decisions on these "circles," as well as the fear of another war, appeared time and again in Britain's decision making. Kaufman shows how the alliance avoided division over China largely because Britain did the majority of the compromising. Reliant upon the United States militarily and financially, most U.K. officials made concessions to their Washington counterparts. Readers of Confronting Communism will come away with a better understanding of alliance politics. They will learn that such decision making, for both Great Britain and the United States, was a highly complex process, one that posed serious challenges to the Anglo-American alliance. Despite those challenges, accord between London and Washington prevailed.