Detente Flashcards
1
Q
What is detente
A
- Detente was a period of intense superpower contact and discussion with the aim of reducing the danger of nuclear war.
- The essence of detente is both superpowers realising that there is a mutual interest in preventing nuclear war. Therefore, it was an attempt to manage ideological differences rather than to change them
2
Q
Objectives of detente
A
- To reduce the danger of nuclear war, principally through verifiable arms control agreements
- The expansion of high-level contacts, trade links, technology transfers and cultural exchanges
- The cumulative effect of this would hopefully be to build mutual confidence, reduce suspicion and stabilise the superpower relationship and ensuring greater predictability of behaviour
- If the cold war could not be ended due to ideological differences it could at least be managed more effectively and responsibly
3
Q
Explaining detente
A
- It can be argued that the Cuban missile crisis was the origin of detente as both sides realised how close nuclear war was. This compelled them to rethink their relationship
- in 1963 a hotline was set up between superpowers
- 1963 nuclear test ban treaty which prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere
- in 1963 JFK claims to not want US domination but instead wants mutual understanding
- 1963-1968 After JFK’s death, Lyndon B Johnson and Nikita Khrushchev and then Lenoid Brezhnev is a period of mixed signals in the relationship.
4
Q
Positive signals from 1963-1968
A
- West German Ostpolitik was created
- 1967 Outer Space treaty was signed which prevented the militarization of space
- Nuclear non-proliferation treaty 1968 which allowed only 5 nations to have nuclear weapons
- The Ostpolitik was a policy for West Germany to develop a better relationship with Eastern European countries
5
Q
Negative signals 1963-1968
A
- Middle East war of 1967(six day war) where superpowers were on opposing sides
- Escalation of US involvement in Vietnam
- 1968, Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact Allies invade Czechoslovakia. The invasion kills off any prospect of a Johnson-Brezhnev summit
6
Q
US motivations for detente
A
- To mange the soviet Union’s emergence as a great power as by 1969 the USSR had nuclear parity and the US had to build that reality into its policy approaches. This signalled that there had been a change in the balance of power.
- To moderate soviet global behaviour
- To secure soviet pressure on North Vietnam to facilitate a peace deal
- To ease economic burdens on the US as a result of the Vietnam war
- To promote liberalisation and human rights in the soviet union
- To preserve American global leadership in new, more challenging circumstances
7
Q
Soviet Motivations for detente
A
- Recognition by the US of Soviet status as an equal vital to regional and global problem solving
- Soviet economic weakness compared to US meant that it required access to Western technology as the USSR’s economy was 1/6 of the US
- Detente would allow Moscow to focus on the more immediate threat posed by China. Communism had been split between two states since 1959 and the communist world was no longer unified
- Through detente the soviet union still looking to advance global communism and national liberation struggles in the Third world without the risk of a war.
8
Q
Key developments in detente 1
A
- Strategic arms limitation treaty (SALT 1) was signed in 1972 and Nixon’s visit to Moscow.
- There were also agreements on health, joint Apollo-Soyuz space mission, reducing the risk of nuclear war by accident
- Trade deal October 1972
- In 1972 the basic principles agreement laid down 12 principles for the conduct of superpower relations. This involved accepting equality, peaceful coexistence etc
- January 1973 Vietnam peace deal
- Nixon-Brezhnev summit 1973(US) and June/July 1974(Moscow). A deal to cut anti-ballistic missiles on each side from 200-100
9
Q
Key developments in detente 2
A
- January 1973 - Paris peace agreement to end direct Us involvement in Vietnam.
- October 1973 middle east war was a blow to detente. This raised the temperature with the threat of Soviet intervention. Sharp superpower exchanges, US nuclear alert. This was a reminder of underlying superpower hostilities.
- SALT 2 June 1979 was meant to be a limit on strategic nuclear weapons launchers however, it was never ratified by the Senate and was suspended as a result of the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan which was the principal cause of the death of detente
10
Q
The demise of detente
A
- 1975-76 Cuban intervention in Angola in Southern Africa to support the Marxist MPLA against its opponents and bring it to power. 40,000 Cuban troops were deployed by the end of 1976. They would remain until a 1988 agreement secured their withdrawal
- 1977-78 Cuban intervention in the Horn of Africa war between Somalia and Ethiopia over the disputed Ogaden region. The Soviet Union switched sides(Somalia had been Moscow’s ally). It could be argued that the Cubans were acting as Soviet proxies
- There was insufficient Soviet progress on human rights
- Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. 80,000 Soviet troops are deployed
- United states boycotts 1980 Moscow Olympics
11
Q
Explaining detente’s demise
A
- Each side had a different interpretation and understanding of detente
- The two sides lacked a shared definition of human rights
- Detentes demise ultimately lay in the underlying reality of two fundamentally antagonistic, mutually irreconcilable, social systems
- Each side remained committed to ‘winning’ the cold war.
12
Q
The US and China: a parallel detente
A
- 1949-1971 deeply hostile relationship.
- 15 July 1971- Nixon announces he will visit China
- 21-28 February 1972 Nixon in China, Cluster of agreements follow. One of the most dramatic turnarounds in modern diplomatic history
- Full diplomatic relations not established until 1979 although US states that any Chinese attempt to seize Taiwan by force will be of ‘grave concern’ to the US (arms sales to Taiwan continue)
- Proves more enduring than US soviet detente
