Political Policies Between The United States and The Soviet Union During the 1970s :: American America History

Political Policies Between The United States and The Soviet Union During the 1970sOne can non effectively interpret world political policies of the 1970s without the inclusion of the relationship known as dtente, and the breakdown there of. The breakdown of the 1970s dtente can be attri just nowed to many different issues and events. In researching these events the varying opinions from both world superpowers which would establish the failure of dtente in history, as a breakdown in dialogue and talks between the United States White House and the Soviet Unions Kremlin with the collapse of dtente marking the end of the 1970s. During the 1976 presidential campaign, the tension between the objective of transformation and the importance of coexistence became crucial. Conservatives criticized dtente for not moderating the Soviets involvement in the Third World transformation to communism. In the United States, many saw accumulative series of Soviet interventions which involved military means Angola, Ethiopia, Kampuchea, Afghanistan, as a pattern of Soviet expansion, which was not consistent with dtente. Many actually believed that these expansionist moves were encourage by dtente. Ultimately, the expectations that dtente would achieve more were held by both powers. It was the failure to satisfy these expectations which led to its demise. Kissinger suggested that dtente, with all its weaknesses, should be judged not against some ideal but against what would have happened in its absence. Dtente did not cause the Soviet arms build-up, nor could it have stopped it. However, it may have slowed it down or made it more benign (Garthoff 19941123). Perhaps dtente could be viewed, not as a method of preventing or deterring tension which might lead to war, but as a way of postponing their effect until the United States could more effectively deal with them. By 1976, dtente was a controversial term with both left(p) and right hands of the disagreement criticizing its deve lopment. With the Administration of Jimmy Carter, a campaign for restoring confidence in government institutions and reforming American foreign policy was implemented (Froman 199174). chairperson Carter appointed Zbigniew Brzezinski as National Security Adviser and Cyrus Vance as Secretary of State. The ongoing differences between Brzezinski and Vance resulted in turmoil for the Carter administration as well as destroyed Carters efforts to develop a set of boundaries for the principles of dtente. Dtente began to collapse almost as soon as it had begun. Watergate undermined President Richard M.