Vietnam War

===Nuclear threats and diplomacy===
U.S. president Richard Nixon began troop withdrawals in 1969. His plan to build up the ARVN so that it could take over the defense of South Vietnam became known as "[[Vietnamization]]". As the PAVN/VC recovered from their 1968 losses and generally avoided contact, Creighton Abrams conducted operations aimed at disrupting logistics, with better use of firepower and more cooperation with the ARVN.<ref name=Hastings/>{{Rp|517}} On 27 October 1969, Nixon had ordered a squadron of 18 B-52s loaded with nuclear weapons [[Operation Giant Lance|to race to the border of Soviet airspace]] to convince the Soviet Union, in accord with the [[madman theory]], that he was capable of anything to end the Vietnam War.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sagan |first1=Scott Douglas |last2=Suri |first2=Jeremi |date=16 June 2003 |title=The Madman Nuclear Alert: Secrecy, Signaling, and Safety in October 1969 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/43692 |journal=International Security |language=en |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=150–183 |doi=10.1162/016228803321951126 |issn=1531-4804 |s2cid=57564244}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Michael |title=Nixon's Nuclear Ploy |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB81/index2.htm |access-date=8 February 2018 |website=nsarchive2.gwu.edu|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407114836/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB81/index2.htm|archive-date=April 7, 2023}}</ref> Nixon had also sought [[détente]] with the Soviet Union and [[Sino-American relations#Rapprochement|rapprochement with China]], which decreased global tensions and led to nuclear arms reduction by both superpowers; however, the Soviets continued to supply the North Vietnamese with aid.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Foundations of Foreign Policy, 1969-1972 |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/i/21100.htm |access-date=4 July 2021 |website=Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, Volume I |publisher=U.S. Department of State|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513100856/https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/i/21100.htm|archive-date=May 13, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Van Ness |first=Peter |date=December 1986 |title=Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, and the American Accommodation with China: A Review Article |journal=Contemporary Southeast Asia |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=231–245 |jstor=25797906}}</ref>