ABSTRACT
Considerable information is available on the origins of the Basic Principles Agreement, particularly in Henry Kissinger's White House Years. The Basic Principles Agreement signed by Richard M. Nixon and Leonid I Brezhnev ignored the long-standing disagreement between the two sides on this important matter. In his memoirs Kissinger minimizes the significance of the two agreements and the expectations he attached to them. Nixon wanted Kissinger to state the US disagreement with the Soviet definition of peaceful coexistence sharply and explicitly. Available information indicates that neither side attempted to engage the other in followup conversations to consider the operational implications of their agreements. In addition to the unresolved disagreements over "peaceful coexistence" and the ambiguities and misunderstandings as to "equality," the inclusion of hedges and escape clauses further limited the utility and prospects of the agreements to cooperate in crisis prevention.
