ABSTRACT
The strategic relationship between the United States, the Soviet Union and China has formed the context for US policy analysis and decision making toward the People's Republic of China since the early 1970s. Bilateral issues between Peking and Washington, including Taiwan, have been important but ultimately secondary concerns. Virtually all key US policy makers have viewed Sino-American relations through the lens of the strategic triangle. The process of decision making in the US and the nature of triangular interactions is of course very complex and variegated over time. The factor in Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger's triangular policy was concern to prevent Soviet domination of the People's Republic. The 'China card' was played in the context of worsening US-Soviet relations and a presidential search for options to pressure/punish the Soviets. President Carter was under mounting domestic pressure to take a tough position in the Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement talks and in response to Soviet and Cuban military intervention in Ethiopia.
