A conflict perpetuated : China policy during the Kennedy years / Noam Kochavi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kochavi, Noam, 1961-

Series:

International history.

International history, 1527-2230

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963.

Kennedy, John F.

United States--Foreign relations--China.

United States.

China--Foreign relations--United States.

China.

United States--Foreign relations--1961-1963.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (304 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024

Place of Publication:

Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The first comprehensive account of China policy during the Kennedy years, this study profiles John F. Kennedy as a man whose inner struggles and disparate characteristics made for an unpredictable foreign policy. While he was often a hostage to the Cold War, to constrictive perceptions of the domestic climate, and to the image of a predatory China, Kennedy recognized Washington's finite capacity to shape events on the China Mainland. With the possible exception of a preventive strike against China's nuclear installations, he was also reluctant to run the risk of a military confrontation with Beijing. On the eve of his assassination, Kennedy may have even contemplated a China policy departure during his second term. A calm appraisal of China's capabilities and intentions constituted the distinguishing feature of revisionist thinking during the Kennedy years. The disjointed revisionist effort settled, in late 1963, on a pedagogic course, which still implied a search for American primacy. The revisionist approach did ultimately facilitate the transformation of bilateral relations in the early 1970s. From a shorter-range perspective, however, the Kennedy era only added fuel to the fire of Sino-American confrontation. The Limited Test Ban Treaty accentuated the sense of encirclement and vulnerability in Beijing's psyche, and clouds gathered ominously over Vietnam. Kennedy does bear some responsibility for the bilateral impasse, as he personified a decisionmaker so obsessed with the objective of deterrence as to overlook the security dilemma: nonetheless, Mao's preference for a radical course, independent of Kennedy's conduct, contributed as well. Neither side was yet ready for a breakthrough.

Contents:

Cover

A CONFLICT PERPETUATED

Contents

Series Foreword

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES

A Note on Transliteration

Introduction

NOTES

Chapter 1 The Eisenhower Legacy: Consequential Brinkmanship

Chapter 2 The Kennedy Team's China Prism Prior to the Assumption of Power

Chapter 3 1961's Emerging Patterns: Stillborn Initiatives, Linkage Politics, and Alliance Politics

Chapter 4 Mist across the Bamboo Curtain: Washington's View of China's Internal Crisis, 1961-1962

Chapter 5 The Sino-Indian War and the Failure of the "New Pacific Community"

Chapter 6 Chinese Shadows, Korean Ghosts, and Entanglement in Southeast Asia

Chapter 7 From Puzzled Prudence to Bold Experimentation: The Sino-Soviet Split and the Strategic Triangle

Chapter 8 Fork in the Road: Between a Surgical Strike and a Conditional "Containment without Isolation"

Summary and Conclusion

Selected Bibliography

MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS

PUBLIC RECORDS: PUBLISHED

ORAL HISTORIES, INTERVIEWS, DISCUSSIONS

OTHER SOURCES

Index

About the Author.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [253]-270) and index.

ISBN:

9798400630446

9786610315109

9781280315107

1280315105

9780313010729

0313010722

OCLC:

52753922