ABSTRACT
This chapter recognizes at the outset that the superpowers have a variety of means at their disposal for avoiding diplomatic crises which, while not war-threatening, inflict serious damage on overall US-Soviet relationship. It addresses the feasibility of superpower cooperation in developing norms of competition that might help to avoid diplomatic crises arising from their global competition for influence at each other's expense. From the standpoint of interests at stake, the global rivalry of the superpowers is differentiated. Sometimes responsible policy-makers are not able to judge the full weight of US interests in a gray area until competition with the Soviet Union or its proxies has escalated and is approaching a crisis stage. Often only when a situation has deteriorated to a certain point do its broader ramifications for US interests become evident in Washington, forcing consideration of a strong response.
