Critics of detente in the USA, 1970-75 Flashcards
What did detente face?
Harsh criticism from within the USA
What did some argue about detente?
It was essentially an amoral policy, which ignored the USSR’s violations of human rights
Why did criticism of detente begin in 1970?
Following the intervention of the Moscow Human Rights Committee, headed by Andrei Sakharov
Why did the Moscow Human Rights Committee establish contact with Amnesty International?
In order to more human rights abuses in the USSR
How did the Moscow Human Rights Committee cause the US government much embarrassment?
It highlighted continuing human rights violation on the part of the USSR at a time when the USA was seeking to improve relations
Who was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
A Russian novelist based in the USA after his exile from the USSR in 1974
What did Solzhenitsyn argue to criticise détente?
The policy should not continue while there was still political repression on the part of the USSR
Who took up Solzhenitsyn’s criticism?
24 senators from both political parties
What did George Meany (union leader) argue about détente?
It was the new appeasement, since it allowed the USSR to grow in strength, unchallenged by the USA
What did George Meany’s union refuse to do?
Load grain onto ships bound for the USSR
What did Theodore Draper (US historian) argue about detente?
Trade with the USA allowed the USSR to grow stronger through cheap imports of grain and US technology
What did Theodore Draper claim?
That America got practically nothing from the deal except ‘a smile from Brezhnev’
What did the SALT 1 agreements provoke?
Fierce criticism
What did some critics argue prior to SALT 1?
The US had been winning the Cold War
What did critics argue about SALT 1?
They argued it swapped US pre-eminence for parity between the superpowers
