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====Opening Relations with China====
[[File:Mao_Nixon.jpeg|thumbnail|300px|rightleft|Nixon's famous visit to Beijing in February 1972.]]
The emergence of China on the geopolitical scene almost created a tri-polar world. China by the end of the 1960s did not fall in the Soviet camp, and Mao believed that the U.S.S.R. was adulterating Communist ideology. The U.S. refused to recognize the People's Republic since its victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Chinese involvement against United Nations forces in the Korean War also deepened mistrust. However, this changed by the early 1970s. The two countries exchanged friendly ping-pong athletes for exhibition games, which evolved into deeper and deeper talks. Nixon had fostered such talks since his first term began in 1969, but by 1971 National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger traveled secretly to Beijing to begin talks of a deeper thaw. <ref>DeVoss, David, "Ping-Pong Diplomacy." <i>Smithsonian Magazine</i>, April 2002.</ref>
