Détente, the Second Cold War, and the End

The logic of détente

By the late 1960s both superpowers had reasons to ease tension, a relaxation known by the French word détente. The near-catastrophe of Cuba had frightened both sides. The costs of the arms race and the space race strained budgets. The Soviet Union had achieved rough nuclear parity, making mutual destruction certain and encouraging negotiation. The United States, bogged down in Vietnam, sought Soviet help in extracting itself. President Richard Nixon and his adviser Henry Kissinger pursued a strategy of engagement, including the dramatic opening to communist China in 1972 that exploited the bitter Sino-Soviet split.

Détente produced concrete agreements. The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks yielded SALT I in 1972, which capped certain categories of missiles and included t