Hing Deng

4/9/10
Ch 14 Globalism, pgs 990-992, pgs 1002-1010 in Palmer/Colton
4th period
IB World Issues

Ch 14 Globalism

 “Unlike his predecessors, he did not regard Communism as the chief enemy; he said repeatedly
that Americans had become too fearful of the Communists while giving too little attention to the
greater danger of the arms race and too much support to repressive right-wing dictatorships
around the world.” 281
 “Carter said his ultimate goal was the elimination of nuclear weapons from the earth.” 281
 Human rights = “the soul of our (America’s) foreign policy” 282
 “American arms sales abroad actually increased during the Carter years.” 282
 “Carter’s emphasis on human rights badly damaged America’s relationship with many of her
oldest allies; it caused resentment in the Soviet Union and other Communist countries that
contributed to the failure to achieve such major goals as arms control or genuine détente; it
contributed to the downfall of America’s oldest and staunchest ally in the Middle East, the Shah
of Iran, with consequences that were disastrous for Carter himself.” 282
 “Charter (1945) and again in the Helsinki Accords of 1975, when all the participants, including
the Soviet Union, solemnly agreed to respect and protect the human rights of their own citizens.
Unfortunately, there was no enforcement machinery. Congress had endorsed the policy in the
early 1970s.” 283
 Carter was the farthest president that went into the human rights of his time. He felt the issue
deeply himself and it provided an opportunity for him to differ his foreign policy from Nixon and
Kissinger. It offered something to the Cold Warriors and to idealists. 283
 “In his relations with the Soviet Union, Carter’s major goals were to free America from its
“inordinate fear of Communism” and to complete a SALT II treaty that would reduce the
chances of nuclear war.” 284
 “Carter’s inaugural, when he ordered the immediate withdrawal of American nuclear weapons
from South Korea. This major step did not elicit any Soviet response (and was in fact ultimately
blocked by the Pentagon bureaucracy). This was disappointing to Carter because it showed his
inexperience by taking such a bold step without first discussing it with his own military leaders
and without first informing the Kremlin and obtaining some promises for reciprocal action in
advance. Carter was distressed by Soviet failure to respond to his signals.” 285
 “Soviets increased their arms buildup, became involved in both the Horn of Africa and in
southern Africa, using Cuban troops as their advance agents.” 285
 Russians saw Carter’s actions as a sign of weakness at times and therefore they became more
aggressive. 285
 “The most important result of Carter’s growing hostility toward and fear of the Soviets was the
demise of SALT II.” 286
 “June 1979 Carter met with Brezhnev in Vienna to sign the SALT II treaty. By then, Carter had
already ordered the construction of cruise (Pershing II) missiles, and an enhanced radiation
(neutron) bomb. Brezhnev had responded by accelerating Soviet production of the Backfire
Bomber and the new SS-20 missiles.” 286
 Salt II = The treaty that limited US and the Russians to 2.4k launchers of all types.” 286
 “The treaty was sharply criticized in the United States, especially in the Senate, where it was
charged that it gave too much away and allowed Russia’s supposed strategic superiority to
continue and even to grow.” 287
 Carter lost faith in the treaty.
 “In Dec 1979, the Carter administration persuaded its NATO partners to agree to a program of
installing Pershing II missiles with nuclear warheads in Western Europe as a response to the
Soviet installation of hundreds of new medium-range SS-20 missiles in Eastern Europe.” 287
 “In Dec 1979, some 85k Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. This event jolted Carter. He said that
“the implications of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan could pose the most serious threat to
world peace since the Second World War,” and argued that “aggression unopposed becomes a
contagious disease.” The United States curtailed grain sales to Russia, suspended high-tech
sales, and—at Carter’s insistence—boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.” 288
 “Carter explained that Afghanistan was the reason, saying: “This action of the Soviets has made
a more drastic change in my own opinion of what the Soviets’ ultimate goals are than anything
they’ve done in the time I’ve been in the office.” 288
 “Fearful for the West’s oil supplies, Carter backed away from SALT II and increased defense
spending; he also announced that restrictions on the activities of the CIA would be lifted and
proclaimed a Carter Doctrine for Southwest Asia.” 288
 “He had been unable to hold to the SALT II policy, in largest part because of the failure of the
Soviets to respond to his “positive incentives,” but also because of internal political pressure to
“get tough,” because his own inexperience led him to overreact to events, as in Cuba and
Afghanistan, and because the momentum of the arms race could not be even slowed, much less
halted, as each side reacted to its fears of technological or numerical breakthrough by the other.
And because Carter was not a strong enough captain to set a course and hold onto it.” 289
 “In Latin America, Carter withdrew support from the repressive military junta in Chile, thus
reversing Nixon’s policy.” 290
 “In Feb 1978, Carter also cut all military and economic aid to one of the America’s oldest allies,
Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua, because of Somoza’s record on human rights.” 290
 “In June 1979, the United States recognized the new Sandinistas were left wing, with a strong
Communist element in the government and provided it with $16 million in economic aid. A year
later, Carter signed a $75- million aid package for Nicaragua.” 290
 Sandinistas = left wing w/ strong Communist influence in the gov 290
 “In May 1980, left-wing guerrillas in El Salvador encouraged and aided by the Sandinista victory
in Nicaragua, and by Castro, began a civil war.” 290
 “Carter suspended military and economic aid to El Salvador, although on Jan 14, 1981 in one of
his last acts as President, he announced the resumption of limited aid.” 290
 “In early 1979 Carter made a sudden, dramatic journey to the Middle East, where he met with
Sat in Egypt and Begin in Israel, and eventually persuaded them to sign a peace treaty. It was an
agreement for Egyptian recognition of Israel, and peace between the two nations, in return for a
staged Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai. The future of the PLO was also mentioned, but in a
vague way that allowed conflicting interpretations as to what was meant. The agreement did
not mention the Golan Heights or Jerusalem (indeed, Begin incorporated the Golan heights into
the State of Israel in 1982, and Jewish settlers in large numbers moved into the West Bank). The
treaty did lead to an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai, completed in April 1982, and the opening
of diplomatic economic relations between Egypt and Israel.”
  “Iran played a major role in the presidential election that year and led to Carter’s electoral
defeat.”
 Iran = Best friend in the Middle East to America, one of main partners in the policy of containing
Soviets and the only reliable supplier of oil to the West.”
 “Countless Iranians believed that the United States was responsible for the Shah’s
modernization programs, which in their view violated fundamental Islamic law and traditional
Persian customs. But because the Americans got their information about Iran from the Shah,
SAVAK, the Iranian military, and the oil companies, the seething unrest among the Iranian
masses was either unknown, ignored, or dismissed.”
 Ayatollah Khomeini became leader of Iran
 “Carter was seeing dangers that did not exist, while ignoring those that did.”
 “Carter’s decisions had been consistently wrong—his failure to support the Shah when the
revolution began, his failure to open lines of communication with Khomeini, his recognition of a
gov in Iran that could not be govern, his decision to allow the Shah into the US, his highly
emotional response to the taking of the hostages, his long-delayed and then botched use of the
military rescue option. Carter’s standing in the polls declined sharply.”
 “In Sep, Khomeini stated four conditions for the release of the hostages: The United States must
1. return the Shah’s wealth; 2. cancel all financial claims against Iran; free Iranian assets frozen
in the US; and 4. promise never to interfere in Iranian affairs. Since the Iranian demand for an
apology from the US for its past behavior was not mentioned, there was now at least a basis for
talk. Chances for a settlement also improved after Sep 22, when Iraq invaded Iran’s Khuzistan
Province and full-scale war began between the two countries.”
 “The possibility of the dismemberment of Iran was disturbing to the US, because the Soviets
would be sure to take advantage of it, so in October Carter announced that he would release
Iran’s assets, end economic sanctions, and normalize relations if Iran would release the
hostages.”
 “Khomeini was left with a bankrupt and divided country that was involved in a dangerous and
expensive war with Iraq. Carter suffered the worse electoral defeat of any incumbent President
ever.”

Palmer Colton

How did Carter get from peace to more nuclear weapons?

How is it that the arms race continued even when it was so stupid to many people?