Triangular Diplomacy.

Richard Nixon came to the presidency convinced that he had a historic opportunity to restructure the international order. In 1968 the Soviet Union achieved nuclear-missile parity with the United States, and relations between the Soviet Union and Communist China were so bad that the two nations fought in border clashes. The days of American military superiority were over, and the Soviets and the Chinese were seeking American support against each other. Nixon and Kissinger believed that international peace could be achieved by using the United States as a power broker in conflicts between the two Communist giants. Triangular diplomacy between the three nations would balance international power and secure world peace.

Detente and the SALT Accords.

In order for triangular diplomacy to work, military competition and political tension between the United States and the Soviet Union had to be reduced. Nixon...