South Bend, Labor Day Weekend, [Beginning of September], 1971
False Perception of the United States
The great ignorance of the domestic situation as well as the false perception of the United States has, at the present financial crisis, caused again helplessness and consternation. Countries in Western Europe and Asia, which carry on trade with the United States and are closely connected with America, are usually lacking in understanding of American history and of the social and political conditions. They are, therefore, in the dark when they are suddenly confronted with a decision from Washington.
South Bend, [End of September], 1971
The Question of China Before the United Nations
The incongruities within the United Nations have rarely come to light so bluntly as at this year’s opening session of the General Assembly in New York. The small Taiwan or Nationalist China is holding in check the Security Council with its veto power. In the meantime, the People’s Republic of China is refusing to join the United Nations as long as the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek keep their seats in the Organization. It remains to be seen if the Two China or dual representation policy stipulated by the United States will be successful.
South Bend, September 30, 1971
Fall on the Potomac and East River
With the beginning of fall, the emphasis of world politics is again shifting to Washington and New York. While the General Assembly of the United Nations is in session in New York, the finance ministers of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are meeting in Washington to find a solution for the reserve currency. It has also become customary that the Russian foreign minister Andrei Gromyko uses his presence at the United Nations as an opportunity to meet with the U.S. president. A time of intensive diplomatic talks is at hand in which the adjustment of interests and a balanced deployment of troops in Europe are being discussed. Also, a debate on the relaxation of tension in Asia is taking place. President Nixon may count it as a success that the global situation has been decisively eased, and that the emotionally charged rhetoric has given way to a carefully considered realpolitik.