ABSTRACT
The transitional phase in Soviet politics, following the death of Brezhnev on 10 November 1982, represented a period of insecurity and indecision for the development of Soviet-American relations. Under President Reagan the US had returned to a policy of containment by strength in January 1981. This policy was reminiscent in many ways of President Truman's containment policy after 1947. The Soviet Union had Men into mounting political stagnation in the closing phase of the Brezhnev era, and this also affected relations with the US. The deteriorating state of the secretary General's health practically prevented a flexible and decisive policy. In Washington, the President re-elect affirmed the readiness of the US to make progress in the area of arms control and termed the avoidance of the nuclear threat a central task of his future policy. Soviet-US relations had been marked for nearly a decade by a high measure of confrontation and readiness for conflict.
