Comparing Nixon and Mao Zedong (Essay Sample)

The Question was as Follows:
1,000 word essay, no requirement on specific number of sources. My topic for assignment: For my short-term paper, I will be looking at the relation between President Nixon and Chairman Mao Zedong of the People’s Republic of China. Even though Nixon had a history or anticommunist views, he saw the importance of having a good relationship with China. He eased tensions by putting his views aside and making compromises. Plus, he saw a way to diminish Moscow’s influence within the region during the Cold War and ended twenty years of silence between the two countries. It is a great example of international politics and I look forward to sharing my findings with the class. Assignment from professor: Select two contemporary world leaders from different countries, other than our current President (they do not have to be current heads of state but must have international stature and policy making credentials) who have interacted with each other recently and characterize their foreign policy in terms of the theories we developed in Week 1. How have these leaders utilized other actors (particularly IGOs) and resources to bear in their relations with each other? Examine a particular interaction between them in a field such as trade, human rights, border security or balance of power to make your points.