Critical Analysis of the Detente Period in the Cold War

Abstract

The 1970s détente was a significant era in world history after the cold war since it marked the beginning of the fall of the Soviet bloc and the end of the rise of Soviet communism. Detente is a French term that means "relaxation of tension”. The actions of the Soviet Union during the era of détente were not part of any coherent policy but rather represented an expansion of the conservative ideological system instituted by Leonid Brezhnev. However, the Soviet Union was unable to fully benefit from détente. The overextension of the Soviet Union in the Third World and the increasing dependency on global trends laid the groundwork for the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union a decade later. This is termed the disintegration of the USSR in 1991. This paper aims to discuss the reasons for adopting the detente period which was the failure of the USA in the Vietnam war, the Cuban missile crisis and many more and the forms of cooperation between the two super blocs which are SALT I and SALT II treaties which talks about the nuclear arms control between the two superpowers. This paper also highlights the Helsinki Final Act and the ten principles adopted in the act.