ABSTRACT
Détente as a concept has been established in the vocabulary of political science since the early 1970s. The increasing use of the term since then, however, not only by scholars but also by policymakers and journalists, has generated diversity of usage and connotation and, therefore, conceptual ambiguity. Hence, this chapter attempts to clarify the meaning of détente by posing the following questions. What does détente mean? How has the term been used? Can détente be used effectively as an analytical term?
