Détente

Full Description

A policy of relaxation of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, pursued primarily between 1969 and 1979. Under Nixon and Kissinger, détente produced the SALT I arms limitation treaty (1972), the Helsinki Accords (1975), and the opening of relations with China. It rested on the assumption that managing superpower rivalry through negotiation and trade was preferable to confrontation, and that binding the Soviet Union into international agreements would moderate its behaviour.

Critical Perspective

Détente was attacked from both left and right: the left criticised it for propping up authoritarian regimes; the right, including Ronald Reagan, condemned it for legitimising Soviet power and failing to demand human rights improvements. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 is often cited as détente’s death blow, though critics argue that both superpowers continued to pursue their strategic interests — détente was always more rhetorical than structural.