ABSTRACT

This opening chapter focuses on Richard Nixon’s presidential visit to Bucharest in August 1969. It was the first time since the end of the Second World War that a US president had set foot on Eastern European soil, and thus represented a first glimpse behind the Iron Curtain and, most importantly, a manifestation of Nixon’s policy of ‘differentiation’ towards the communist bloc. This visit was a turning point in the history of the relations between the two states and it demarcated the beginning of the golden era of this peculiar ‘special relationship’ in the 1970s. Ceausescu’s main preoccupation was to maintain his independence against the proximate threat of the USSR. He aimed at developing a network of relations with as many (western) states as possible, to create the necessary political balance that would act as a deterrent to the Soviets. That was something that the American side grasped and endorsed, believing that the investment of Washington’s prestige in this visit would make Moscow conscious of the costs they would incur in their relations in case they attempted to discipline or crush their weak neighbour. Finally, its pivotal role within the communist world made Romania a good candidate for being a proxy for reaching out to Vietnam and China, according to Washington’s triangulation plans.