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Detente

Detente. The term first used by French President Charles de Gaulle in the early 1960s Relaxation of East-West tensions Peaceful coexistence

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Detente

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  1. Detente

  2. The term first used by French President Charles de Gaulle in the early 1960s • Relaxation of East-West tensions • Peaceful coexistence • The core idea: despite the profound differences between the capitalist and communist systems, war is not inevitable, there are mutual interests which can be best served by cooperation in: • Avoiding a major war; pursuing arms control and disarmament • Joint approaches to regional conflicts • Trade and investment

  3. In a broad sense, détente started right after Stalin’s death. Several cycles of tension-relaxation from 1953 to 1991 • Important threshold: the 1963 Test Ban Treaty • Reached a mature, institutionalized stage in 1971-75 • 1971: US recognizes the People’s Republic of China • 1972: Settlement of the German Question • 1972: The SALT-1 Treaty • 1973: The US-Soviet trade agreement • 1975: The Helsinki Final Act on Security and Cooperation in Europe

  4. Khrushchev and Kennedy • Reformers, dynamic leaders who promoted change and took risks • Ideological warriors, optimistic about their systems’ prospects • Almost went to war in 1962, then laid the foundation of the arms control system • Kennedy was killed in 1963, Khrushchev overthrown in 1964 • Brezhnev and Nixon • Conservatives, preoccupied with order and stability • Less ideological, more pragmatic; defensive about their systems • Building on what was achieved in the previous decade

  5. Changes in the global balance of power • The nationalism-communism nexus in the Third World fuelled decolonization in the 1950s-1970s • Until the mid-1970s, the US continued to confront it as a major global threat in a futile struggle • America deadlocked, the war and domestic upheavals produce a profound political crisis at home, loss of influence abroad • The conservative-led USSR benefits from American setbacks by: • Continuing to support radical nationalists in the Third World; • Maintaining tight control over Eastern Europe; • Building up Soviet military potential; • And developing détente-type relations with the West

  6. The Drama of 1968 THE CHALLENGES • Vietnam: the Tet offensive and President Johnson’s defeat • Barricades in Paris and the fall of the conservative regime in France • The Prague Spring THE RESPONSES • Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King murdered • The George Wallace movement: the rise of American fascism • The Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia • The election of Richard Nixon

  7. The Nixon-Kissinger reform of US foreign policy Recognize the limits of American power: retrenchment and maneuvre • “Vietnamization” • Deal with the domestic crisis in the US • Arrange a new balance of power by recognizing Communist China and playing “the China card” against Russia • Appeal to Soviet conservatism; treat the USSR as a status-quo force; offer it incentives for acting like one • Arms control for containment and stability • Continued confrontation with the Left in the Third World (1973: Chile)

  8. Things that worked: • Arms control • Normalization of US relations with China • European security strengthened Failures: • The US-Soviet trade deal was torpedoed by US Congress:1973 • Nixon’s authoritarianism ultimately led to his defeat and resignation: 1974 • US defeat in Vietnam: 1975 Overall impression of a shift in international balance of power against the USA, in favour of USSR, China, and the Global Left

  9. Brezhnev’s benefits • Soviet conservatism seemed to work better than US conservatism • USSR seemed to get stronger and more influential in world affairs • High oil prices helped the Kremlin put off necessary reforms • But: • The system was stagnant and increasingly dysfunctional • The decolonization wave in the Global South was coming to an end

  10. The Carter Presidency (1977-80) • US tried to regain initiative through liberal internationalism • Commitment to détente, but also: • Raising the issue of human rights as a challenge to communist states • Growing concerns about Soviet military buildup and aid to Third World Left • By the end of 1979, Carter’s foreign policy was in shambles • The Iranian revolution, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and conservative revolt in the US buried détente. Talk of a “Second Cold War”

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