American History

This paper shall attempt to shed light on the purpose of the Nixon Doctrine and how it saw its initial application. In order to do so effectively, special attention shall be given to the reasons because of which President Richard Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger put the Nixon Doctrine in place to begin with. The paper will explore subsequent applications of the Nixon Doctrine by briefly but comprehensively elaborating on the application of the Nixon Doctrine in the Middle East Crisis during the 1970s and in light of the increase in military assistance to Israel following the Middle East Crisis.

The Nixon Doctrine was President Richard Nixons attempt to develop a clear and broadly comprehensive policy on Americas position with regard to engagement in war for the sake its allies. The Nixon Doctrine incorporated a set of policies that were meant to prevent America from falling into deadlocks with enemies of friends while trying to assist its allies. It was instituted as a byproduct of the Vietnam War in order to prevent future engagement in such wars. The government was under constantly increasing pressure from the public to bring an end to the suffering that the Vietnam War was causing. It allowed the US to ensure a reason for its interests to remain intact in regions where its military could not be physically present. The essence of the Nixon Doctrine was to provide its allies with military assistance and to allow the ally to function as a surrogate for the US.

The Nixon Doctrine was applied while the Vietnam War was still underway and was used to draw out American troops in an attempt to bring down the body count. American troops were pulled out and were replaced by the Vietnamese troops. By doing so, the American government responded to increasing insecurities and reservations that the American public was beginning to show towards American presence in the Vietnam War and the losses it was incurring as a result of the same.
The Middle East Crisis in the 1970s saw the US revisit the Nixon Doctrine in a fashion similar to that in which it had assisted Israel earlier. The US did not physically intervene and did not take any direct part in the crisis but ensured that its interests remained unharmed by providing financial and military support to its allies.

President Richard Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger considered the Nixon Doctrine to have been successfully implemented since it allowed them to continue battles on multiple fronts. Under the protection of the Nixon Doctrine, the United States had the advantage of being able to fight its own wars, while indirectly weakening its enemies by assisting its allies in their battles. Also, the application of the Nixon Doctrine allowed the US military to be drawn out of Vietnam so that it could be brought into use to penetrate Laos.

As highlighted earlier, the assistance of Israel during the Middle East Crisis of 1970 can be considered to be an exemplary case in which the US acted out upon the Nixon Doctrine. The United States increased its military assistance to Israel because the Nixon Doctrine allowed it to provide assistance to its allies without having to directly engage the allys enemy or getting caught in the cross fire.