Cold war geopolitics part 1 Flashcards
What was the three main foreign policy issues during Kennedy’s presidency?
The arms race: france and UK also equipped itself with WMDs
Germany: USSR wanted to remove western influence –> Berlin wall
Cuban Missile Crisis: failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs, USSR planting nuclear warheads in Cuba, US embargo - escalated to almost nuclear war
What is détente?
Détente was a period in which Cold War tensions eased between the Soviet Union and the United States from the late 1960s to 1979. Détente was characterized by warm personal relationships between US president Richard Nixon (1969–1974) and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (1964–1982)
Origin of détente:
after the missile crisis in 1962, there was a consensus that US-USSR relationship needed to de-escalate
Led to signing of treaties to limit the production of WMDs
The USSR also had a economic recession, and could not keep up with the US
Significance of the Berlin Wall
Border between east and west berlin –> physical border between two ideologies and economic and cultural blocks
it lasted for 28 years
Changes in the system:
