What was “détente” between the superpowers and why did it fail?

The structure of world politics during the cold war (1945 – 1989) was determined by the strategic and ideological competition between the US and the Soviet Union. During this period there were varying degrees of tension between these two superpowers. This essay will be describing the different meanings of the word détente, its achievements and limitations, how different countries performed it and how its failure was inevitable. It will also argue that the United States and the Soviet Union were not the only two superpowers that should be taken into account when discussing détente.

Détente, from the French, means a release from tension, in contrast to maintaining high levels of tension as was done during the cold war. The american definition describes détente as a mode of management of adversary power. This interpretation has been adapted from a statement by Dr Kissinger (Bell, 1977) who will be discussed later in the text.

Détente was a period between two phases of the cold war. It is usually dated as 1972 – 1980, although some texts claim it started as early as 1966. Détente emerged first in Europe and was subsequently shifted to the international level. According to Ashton (Ashton, 1989), the first person to establish détente was French president Charles de Gaulle. He refused to accept the general assumption that negotiations and security agreements should be dealt with by the Soviet Union and the United States. He was trying to reduce the American-Soviet influence within Europe. For Western Europeans, as allies of United States, this would mean an increase in their independence from the US.

Another possible starting point of détente was the emergence of Ostpolitik or Eastern Policy. This was a pragmatic strategy developed by Willy Brandt, the German Socialist Chancellor. It was based on the fact that Germany had to balance their foreign policy between two aspects. Firstly, they wanted to be part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for security and defence reasons. Secondly, they wanted to stay on good terms with East Germany and the Soviet Union for economic reasons. As consequence Ostpolitik led to recognition of East Germany and treaties with Poland were signed. This was a big step towards security between the East and the West in Europe. By keeping their place in the middle, they were able to keep on good terms with both sides.

One of the big issues in the cold war was a lack of communication between the US and the Soviet Union. This was clearly demonstrated by the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when there was not a way of negotiating possible agreements. It was one of the biggest clashes between the two and, at that point, the world was very close to a military, most possibly nuclear disaster. The Soviet Union was aware of the fact that the United States were much stronger as far as nuclear power was concerned. On the other hand, the Americans wanted to restrict the influence of communist ideology and stop it from spreading into the third world countries. This situation led to both countries feeling threatened and hostile towards each other. Fortunately, they both realised that each was capable of destroying the other by using nuclear weapons. In addition, they were aware of the fact that with the number of nuclear weapons they had such conflict would probably mean that there would be no survivors. This ultimately became the main reason for the formation of the détente era.
Even after the crisis was over, the Soviet Union kept a close relationship with Fidel Castro’s government and promised to cooperate in case of attack by the United States.

In 1963, USSR, Britain and the United States signed an agreement that banned all nuclear tests except those underground. Communication soon improved, a hot line was set up between President Kennedy and President Khruschev.

One of the characteristics of détente was frequent meetings and major discussion of issues between the United States, the USSR and China. Even though most texts refer to superpowers as the US and the USSR, China was an important party in this period. Indeed, it could be argued that there was a détente between the US and China and another détente between the US and the Soviet Union. Even though Russia and China were both communist countries, they had frequent border clashes. This could be the reason why there never was détente between China and the Soviet Union. Also the war in Vietnam increased tension between these two communist giants. The United States were in a position to keep on good terms with both of them and indeed this was their strategy. If a conflict with Russia arose, they could turn to China as their ally and vice versa. “I propose to look at détente as an American strategy consciously deployed within a triangular power balance, vis-à-vis both China and the Soviet Union.” (Bell, 1977)
American foreign policy in mid and late 1960s was dominated by the war in Vietnam. Richard Nixon, the new Republican president and Henry Kissinger, his National Security Adviser (who in 1973 became his Secretary of State) resolved to end the war. The main reason for this was the decrease of economic and military superiority of the United States. Between 1964 and 1972 America switched from a 7 billion dollar trade surplus to a 7 billion dollar trade deficit (Ashton, 1989). War in Vietnam was one cause of this decline. As a result, there was an increased competition from America’s allies in Europe and Japan. The dollar depreciated quickly. There was a hope that détente would bring the balance back. Kissinger in his book (Years of Upheaval) wrote: “Détente was built on the twin pillars of resistance to Soviet expansionism and a willingness to negotiate on concrete issues, on the concept of deterrence and a readiness to explore the principles of coexistence.” (Bell, 1977)

Nixon began a policy of détente with the Soviet Union in May 1972, when he visited Moscow.
A series of arms control agreements were created to limit the development of strategic weapons and also to slow the arms race. The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty started in 1969.

A series of political visits began and it seemed that the two superpowers were enjoying both strategic and economic benefits of détente. However, in 1972, after a visit to China, President Nixon travelled to Moscow. According to Martel (Martel, 1994) the purpose of Nixon’s diplomatic visits was to create doubt in the minds of the leaders in each communist state about the other’s agreements with the US. He wanted to use improved relations with the Chinese to make the Soviets more manageable and better relations with the Soviets to make the Chinese more conciliatory. It was agreed in 1972 that détente should progress from arms control to cooperation in trade, science, technology, space ventures and other fields. And so it did- the trade between the US and USSR increased enormously, with Russians importing grain and other industrial goods necessary for sustaining their economy. Another positives of détente was the Helsinki agreement in 1975 which recognised borders in post Second World War Europe and also tried to monitor human rights in the Communist countries.

“Détente should not be mistaken for peace. Peace is an objective. Détente is a diplomatic mode or strategy by which that objective may be sought.” (Bell, The Diplomacy of Détente, 1977) This can be illustrated by the fact that nuclear weapons were never destroyed, there was only an attempt to control their growth. Also none of the countries were prepared to give up their diplomatic and military influence over other countries- for example USSR over Eastern Europe. The Soviets and the Americans never stopped competing for the resource-rich countries of the Third World. There was also a great deal of tension between the US and the Soviets in the Middle East where the two countries supported rival client states. Kissinger’s diplomacy was designed to eliminate Soviet influence in the Middle East under the cover of détente, as he himself later admitted in Years of Upheaval” (Bell, The Diplomacy of Détente, 1977).

It was the crisis of presidential authority in the US and involvement in Third World conflicts that ultimately led to the decline of détente. There was a growing anti-détente mood from 1976 when Carter became a president of the United States. SALT II talks started but at this point, the superpowers were not willing to carry on and eventually, the talks were suspended. Superpowers had conflicting policies in regional conflicts such as the conflict in Africa in 1978. Another issue that worsened the East – West relations was the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet troops in 1979. In the Arab – Israeli conflict, Americans were fighting Soviet closest ally in the Middle East, Syria.

“Since 1976, The Committee for the Present Danger was portraying the USSR as abusing détente and becoming a growing threat to US interests.” (Lawler, 2004) China criticised the United States for not acting on potential Soviet threat to Western Europe. It seems that the whole world was based on mistrust. The USSR was disrespected for breaking mutual agreements and for invading other countries. SALT II talks were suspended. A number of points discussed above seem to suggest that détente could be seen as a temporary break from high tension between superpowers. And because the US and the Soviet Union never really trusted one other and had different ideological and strategic views, it can be said that the fall of détente was just a question of time