ABSTRACT
Detente—the relaxation of Cold War tensions between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics —began in 1969. In announcing an "era of negotiations" in 1969, both leaders raised inflated hopes and fears at home and abroad. A Cold War–weary public welcomed a step back from nuclear saber rattling, but hard-liners on both sides were mistrustful and vocal in their criticism. The Soviet Union’s spectacular military gains in the 1960s formed an important backdrop to detente. Although vaguely worded and largely unenforceable, the guidelines constituted the unofficial charter for detente and reverberated around the world as a formal renunciation by the Superpowers of exploiting regional conflicts for their own interests. The Israeli-Egyptian conflict provided the first test of detente. The struggle between India and Pakistan was another postcolonial rivalry that tested detente. The Vietnam War remained the most critical issue in United States-Soviet relations.
