ABSTRACT
There is probably no better way to start a fight at a Washington cocktail party than to bring up the topic of Détente. It is a subject on which almost everyone in that capital city has an opinion, and it is hardly surprising that disagreement is strong. Some view this period of US-Soviet relations, between 1972 and 1979, as a tragic sellout of US interests in pursuit of an illusory goal of accommodation with the Soviet Union. The party will liven up a bit when one of these pundits engages in conversation with someone who views the period as a series of tragically missed opportunities, one in which the noble goal of a stable peace was almost achieved.
