1970s Detente Essay

To a large extent, detente did little to stabilise international relations during the 1970s. Despite an initial period of cooperation between the superpowers, detente failed to stop the eventual buildup of tensions between Moscow and Washington DC. However, detente did not fail completely; some advances towards international stability were made during the 1970s.

First of all, detente did little to stabilise international relations since it failed to achieve any significant progress towards nuclear disarmament. Nuclear weapons had long been a source of tension between the superpowers. As a result, SALT I was signed in May 1972, proposing a five year ban on the further development and construction of nuclear weapons. However, the USSR did not commit to this ban; she refused to close her 14 active launch sites within the Eastern Bloc. In addition, the Soviet Union began production of SS-20 missiles in 1976 - nearly a whole year before the ban was lifted. In response, the USA authorised NATO to begin deploying Pershing and Cruise missiles in the Western bloc. The presence of active nuclear weapons in Europe caused a dramatic …show more content…
Human rights had also been an area of contention between the superpowers. As a result, during the Helsinki accords of August 1975, the USA and USSR had agreed to uphold "fundamental freedoms." To make sure these freedoms were upheld, non-governmental human rights watchdogs were formed to enforce human rights in the Eastern bloc. However, when the watchdogs based in Moscow, Kiev, and Vilnius condemned the Brezhnev government for using psychiatric torture, the Supreme Soviet ordered for these watchdogs to be suspended and all members arrested. In response, President Carter expressed his support for the Helsinki groups. Brezhnev saw this as an attack on the USSR; as a result, relations worsened and tensions