Diplomatic History Commons^™

“An Exercise In International Extortion”: Operation “Intercept” And Nixon’S 1969 War On Drugs, Justin M. Reid

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

When the former senator and vice president assumed the Oval Office in January 1969, President Richard M. Nixon inherited a nation in crisis with drugs playing a central role. At a campaign stop a few months earlier, Nixon announced to a packed convention center in Anaheim, CA, that if elected president he would end the flow of the illicit drugs coming into the United States “decimating a generation of young Americans.”

True to his word, Nixon moved aggressively after his election victory to refocus the federal drug enforcement bureaucracy on drug source control, blaming Mexico as the main culprit. On …

The National Interest And The Roots Of American-Saudi Diplomacy, Oliver B. Wiegel

Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes the beginnings of diplomacy between the United States and Saudi Arabia during the interwar years and World War II. It explores how national interest was decided upon, how oil companies affected American foreign policy, and the American government’s strategic interest in Saudi oil reserves.

U.S. Government And Politics In Principle And Practice: Democracy, Rights, Freedoms And Empire, Samuel Finesurrey, Gary Greaves

Open Educational Resources

This book is written for students early in college to provide a guide to the founding documents and structures of governance that form the United States political system. This book is called American Government and Politics in Principle and Practice because you will notice that what has been inscribed in law has not always been applied in practice-particularly for indigenous peoples, enslaved peoples, people of color, women, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, those formerly incarcerated, immigrants and the working class within U.S. society. In designing this book, we have two goals. First, we want you to know what the founding documents …

Banking On Belgrade: Nixon’S Foreign Aid Policy With Yugoslavia (1970-1974), Robert 'Bo' Kent

Voces Novae

One of the Nixon Administration’s geopolitical innovations was its willingness to collaborate with communist regimes in order to advance mutual interests. This was demonstrated notably in the Balkans, wherein American policy makers furnished aid to the independent socialist state of Yugoslavia to counter Soviet interests in the region.

Diplomacy And The American Civil War: The Impact On Anglo-American Relations, Johnathan B. Seitz

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Modern historical memory of the American Civil War is dominated by the domestic elements of the four-year conflict between the Union and Confederacy. The military figures, battles, and major political changes of 1861-1864 are central elements to public interpretation of the Civil War. But there is an additional dimension to the events of this period in American history, one that, outside of secondary scholarly research in the past century, remains distant from public knowledge. This research explores the nature of international reaction to the American Civil War, focusing on interaction between the combatants and the United Kingdom. The heart of …

Black Robes At The Edge Of Empire: Jesuits, Natives, And Colonial Crisis In Early Detroit, 1728-1781, Eric J. Toups

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the Jesuit missionaries active in the region of Detroit and how their role in that region changed over the course of the eighteenth century and under different colonial regimes. Jesuits Armand de la Richardie, Pierre Potier, and Pierre du Jaunay influenced imperial decision-making and policy in the eighteenth-century pays d’en haut through their notable influence within certain indigenous communities. The priests were deeply influential during the French regime as demonstrated by their impact on several colonial crises discussed in the text. The Seven Years War and the conquest of New France by Great Britain gradually eroded Jesuit …

The Casualties Of U.S. Grand Strategy: Korean Exclusion From The San Francisco Peace Treaty And The Pacific Pact, Syrus Jin

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

From August 1945 to September 1951, the United States had a unique opportunity to define and frame how it would approach its foreign relations in the Asia-Pacific region. As the dominant power in the Pacific after World War II and claiming direct authority over vanquished Japan, the United States had the liberty to design its own post-war vision for the entire region. Until 1951, American State Department diplomats and government planners, attempted—ultimately unsuccessfully—to harmonize the competing motivations of lingering World War II multilateralist idealism and Cold War geopolitics in a postcolonial, postwar world. This thesis examines U.S.-Korean relations in context …

America, An Aloof Friend: The Limits Of U.S.-Czechoslovak Relations From Munich To War, Connor Schonta

Masters Theses

Between 1918 and 1938, the United States and Czechoslovakia maintained unique, friendly, and special diplomatic relations. This was mainly due to the two countries’ shared commitment to liberal, democratic values. In 1938, however, Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy came to a head in the form of the Munich Agreement, which not only set Czechoslovakia on a course of destruction but also fundamentally transformed the nature of U.S.-Czechoslovak relations. This study seeks to unpack the development of U.S.-Czechoslovak relations in the eleven months between Munich (October 1938) and the start of World War II (September 1939). During this time, the friendly ties …

Strength Through Diplomacy: A Fundamental Review Of The Relationship Between North Korea And The United States, Benjamin D. Blackstone

CMC Senior Theses

At the time that this thesis is printed, we are reminded of the tumultuous relationship between North Korea and the United States every day. If we follow the mainstream news regularly, it seems like we are on a steady path to war. Ultimately, this paper is centered around the question: what is the best foreign policy strategy for both countries to achieve respective goals, without descending into armed conflict? Specifically, I evaluated the failures of the last three U.S. Presidents and used their shortcomings to explain limitations in current foreign policy strategy. I also attempted to show North Korean concerns …

Chilean Coup – Un General Assembly Meeting Simulation Scenario And Background Readings, Kitty Lam

Kitty Lam

This lesson plan for high school students in World History and United States History courses is related to Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup d'etat in Chile. Students will simulate a fictitious United Nations General Assembly Meeting in December 1973 to address the crisis in Chile. This lesson is based on material from the CNN Cold War documentary series, episode 18 "Backyard" and primary source material from "Chile and the United States: Declassified Documents Relating to the Military Coup, September 11, 1973", National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 8, by Peter Kornbluh (http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/nsaebb8i.htm). There are two documents related to this lesson …

Chilean Coup – Un General Assembly Meeting Simulation Scenario And Background Readings, Kitty Lam

World in the 20th Century

This lesson plan for high school students in World History and United States History courses is related to Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup d'etat in Chile. Students will simulate a fictitious United Nations General Assembly Meeting in December 1973 to address the crisis in Chile. This lesson is based on material from the CNN Cold War documentary series, episode 18 "Backyard" and primary source material from "Chile and the United States: Declassified Documents Relating to the Military Coup, September 11, 1973", National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 8, by Peter Kornbluh (http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/nsaebb8i.htm). There are two documents related to …

Haiti And The Heavens: Utopianism And Technocracy In The Cold War Era, Adam M. Silvia

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined technocracy in Haiti in the Cold War era. It showed how Haitian and non-Haitian technicians navigated United States imperialism, Soviet ideology, and postcolonial nationalism to implement bold utopian visions in a country oppressed by poverty and dynastic authoritarianism. Throughout the mid-to-late twentieth century, technicians lavished Haiti with plans to improve the countryside, the city, the workplace, and the home. This study analyzed those plans and investigated the motivations behind them. Based on new evidence discovered in the private correspondence between Haitian, American, and Western European specialists, it questioned the assumption that technocracy was captivated by high-modernist ideology …

0828: Richard Marks Collection, 1952-2014, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The bulk of this collection related to Richard Marks’ research as a genealogist working on his family history, including an index card file of names. Other materials in the collection include personal papers related to his life, materials related to his career as a professor and lecturer, correspondence, and published works on intelligence and local history seen in newspapers, magazines, serials, and books. The collection has been broken down into series to include personal, teaching, correspondence, published works, and genealogy research materials.

The Politics Of A Gesture: The Impact Of Nixon’S Visit To China On Nixon’S Presidency, Samuel Tofte

Psi Sigma Siren

The importance of a symbolic gesture in diplomacy is very difficult to gauge. Diplomats often embark on social functions, meetings and trips to international countries in order to make contact with foreign diplomats and build relationships with governments. This is an effective means of forging political relationships, but how important is it when it comes to international policy and treaty negotiation? In short, it is extremely important in the process of policy-making, even without the tangible evidence showing its significance. Establishing contact can be the most difficult and arduous step in the road to good diplomatic relations, a fact that …

The Background And Development Of The 1871 Korean-American Incident: A Case Study In Cultural Conflict, Robert Ray Swartout Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

This study is an attempt to combine the disciplines of Asian history and United States diplomatic history in analyzing the 1871 Korean-American Incident. The Incident revolves around the Low-Rodgers expedition to Korea, and the subsequent breakdown of peaceful negotiations into a military clash of arms.

To describe the Incident as merely another example of American "imperialism,'' or as a result of narrow-minded Korean isolationism, is to oversimplify its causes and miss the larger implications that can be learned from it. A basic premise of this paper is that the 1871 Incident is an example of East-West cultural conflict. As such, …

Our Peril If Britain Falls, 1941-1943, Committee To Defend America By Aiding The Allies

World War II Era Documents, 1939-1945

A typed propaganda pamphlet entitled, "Our Peril if Britain Falls", by the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, dating from circa 1941-1943. Within, the pamphlet outlines what the United States will lose and risk should Britain fall to Adolf Hitler's Germany.

Industrial Democracy, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

Documents, 1919-1938

A typed copy of an unpublished essay entitled, "Industrial Democracy", written by Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson, dated March 31, 1920. Within, Wilson lays out the framework of a concept for domestic reform entitled "'Industrial Democracy".

A Wise Senate And A Foolish Diplomacy, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

Documents, 1919-1938

A typed copy of an unpublished essay entitled, "A Wise Senate and a Foolish Diplomacy", written by Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson, dated March 26, 1920. Within, Wilson argues the benefits of the Senate's recent rejection of the Treaty of Versailles and warns against the dangers of foreign entanglements.

Article From The Washington Post, January 25, 1911, Unknown

Notes, Speeches, Articles, and Addresses

The document is a copy of a typed article from the Washington Post concerning the best form of diplomacy for the Americas, whether it is military or monetary, and the intent of the Monroe Doctrine.

Diplomatic Letter Of Introduction For James Chesnut Of Camden, S.C. Written By John Forsyth, Secretary Of State, 1839., John Forsyth

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

Diplomatic letter of introduction for James Chesnut of Camden, S.C. "to the respective diplomatic agents of United States in Europe," written and signed by John Forsyth, U.S. Secretary of State, in compliance with a request from the Secretary of War Joel Poinsett (also from S.C.). 1839.