Linkage (policy)

Linkage (policy)

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 not go unpunished. 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 not go unpunished. In this way, conflict itself would contribute to stabilizing the international order.

It is important to note that the Nixon-Kissinger approach did not link foreign and domestic arenas.

Selective relaxation of tensions is an opposing policy to linkage. Under selective relaxation of tensions, an issue of arms control could be addressed and tension diminished while maintaining the status quo in other strategic areas.

Further reading

* Diplomacy (Kissinger) (1994) ISBN 0-671-65991-X, pp 716-721
*"Kissinger: A Biography" by Walter Isaacson (1992) ISBN 0-671-66323-2


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Linkage — generally means the manner or style of being united , and can refer to:*Genetic linkage *Linkage (mechanical) *Linkage (policy) *Linkage (linguistics) *Linkage (software) *Linkage (BitTorrent client)*Linkage is also a commonly used phrase in most …   Wikipedia

  • linkage — UK [ˈlɪŋkɪdʒ] / US noun Word forms linkage : singular linkage plural linkages 1) [countable/uncountable] a policy of connecting two or more issues by making agreement on one issue depend on agreement on another issue The document made no linkage… …   English dictionary

  • linkage — link|age [ lıŋkıdʒ ] noun 1. ) count or uncount a connection made between two or more things: We haven t found a linkage between the attacks. 2. ) count or uncount a policy of connecting two or more issues by making agreement on one issue depend… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Criticism of American foreign policy — Further information: Foreign policy of the United States Criticism of United States foreign policy encompasses a wide range of sentiments about its actions and policies over time. Common criticisms King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia with George W. B …   Wikipedia

  • Energy policy of Russia — The Energy policy of Russia is contained in an Energy Strategy document, which sets out policy for the period up to 2020. In 2000, the Russian government approved the main provisions of the Russian energy strategy to 2020, and in 2003 the new… …   Wikipedia

  • foreign policy —    There exist two main debates regarding Spain s foreign policy under the Franco regime. First, the regime was remarkably opportunistic in exploiting the global divisions of the Cold War. Second, the Foreign Ministry was considerably more… …   Encyclopedia of contemporary Spanish culture

  • Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre — The Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre[1] is one of the research and social justice centres at the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law[2] in Sydney, Australia. It provides a focus for research, public interest advocacy and education on… …   Wikipedia

  • Knowledge policy — Policies are the paradigms of government and all bureaucracies. Policies provide a context of rules and methods to guide how large organizations meet their responsibilities. Organizational knowledge policies describe the institutional aspects of… …   Wikipedia

  • European Collaborative Linkage of Agriculture and Industry Through Research — (ECLAIR)   A 1988 programme of applied research to increase agricultural efficiency within the context of general EC policy concerns …   Glossary of the European Union and European Communities

  • Tripartite Accord (Angola) — For other uses, see Tripartite Accord (disambiguation). The Tripartite Accord, Three Powers Accord or New York Accords granted independence to Namibia and ended the direct involvement of foreign troops in the Angolan Civil War. The accords were… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”