I’m buffing up on my (compartively sparse) knowledge of Kissinger, and I was quite struck by the possibility that it was Soviet fear of a US-China alliance against the USSR that ultimately led to the recognition of China by the Nixon administration.
So, what if the opposite had happened? What if Nixon and Kissinger (or perhaps a later administration) decided that China was the greater long-term threat, and Moscow decided that it was better to find some common ground with the US, opposed to China?
Could this lead to economic liberalization in the USSR?
Could this lead to political liberalization in the USSR?
Could that lead to a survival of the USSR?
What of Eastern Europe, might the Soviets be less firm with their buffer states there?
How does the ROC still representing China in the UN change things?
How does the PRC deal with the vastly decreased opportunity for economic growth over the intervening decades?
How does this change things in North Korea?
Could the PRC fall apart akin to the USSR in OTL?
Whats our best case scenario?
Whats our worst case scenario?
So, what if the opposite had happened? What if Nixon and Kissinger (or perhaps a later administration) decided that China was the greater long-term threat, and Moscow decided that it was better to find some common ground with the US, opposed to China?
Could this lead to economic liberalization in the USSR?
Could this lead to political liberalization in the USSR?
Could that lead to a survival of the USSR?
What of Eastern Europe, might the Soviets be less firm with their buffer states there?
How does the ROC still representing China in the UN change things?
How does the PRC deal with the vastly decreased opportunity for economic growth over the intervening decades?
How does this change things in North Korea?
Could the PRC fall apart akin to the USSR in OTL?
Whats our best case scenario?
Whats our worst case scenario?