7. The rise and fall of superpower détente, 1968–79

Abstract

‘The rise and fall of superpower détente, 1968–79’ describes how the French term détente served as a convenient shorthand for the more stable and cooperative relationship being forged by the Cold War’s primary protagonists during the 1970s. The United States and the Soviet Union worked to lessen the danger of nuclear war through the negotiation of verifiable arms control agreements and to formulate a core set of ‘rules’ to govern their relationship. Nevertheless, competition continued, especially in the Third World. Each side, moreover, harboured a fundamentally different understanding about the meaning of détente. By the end of the 1970s, those problems had grown so severe that they brought the era of détente to an abrupt close.