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Distributed for University College Dublin Press

The Year That Never Was

Heath, the Nixon Administration and the Year of Europe

We thought we were tapping the idealistic tradition of the democracies when we put forward the Year of Europe’, explained Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor in the Nixon White House. ’We did not know what we were letting ourselves in for’. President Richard Nixon’s claim during his second inaugural address that ’we stand on the threshold of a new era of peace in the world’ reflected his relief at the formal conclusion of the war between the United States and North Viet Nam. Freed from the trauma of this conflict, the Administration’s attentions could now be redirected to the deteriorating transatlantic alliance. In a self-conscious attempt to echo the heady days of the Marshall Plan, Kissinger persuaded a reluctant President that now was the perfect opportunity to initiate a comprehensive reassessment of the alliance. The new initiative, called the Year of Europe, quickly became a central part of Nixon’s second-term public relations campaign. Drawing on recently declassified documents from both the British and American National Archives, Hynes examines how the Year of Europe became a pivotal year in British foreign policy - for all the wrong reasons.Set against the turbulent world climate of the early 1970s, it provides a vivid insight into the bizarre diplomatic modus operandi of the Nixon-Kissinger White House. It also offers a fresh interpretation of the difficulties faced by British Prime Minister Edward Heath as he sought to rebuff Kissinger’s overtures and reorientate Britain’s foreign policy towards Europe.

320 pages | © 2009

History: British and Irish History


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Table of Contents

Introduction A Game of Chicken in Reverse - June 1970-November 1971 Maintaining the Bermuda Spirit - November 1971-August 1972 On the Front Burner - September 1972-January 1973 A Man in a Hurry - February 1973-April 1973 Putting Flesh on its Bones - April 1973-May 1973 A Dialogue of the Deaf - May 1973-July 1973. An Earnest of Good Intention - July 1973-August 1973 An All-Time Low - August 1973-October 1973 The Party is Over - October 1973-January 1974 Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index.

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