Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Does Detente Work?



Your reading outlines some of the practices of detente in the late 1960s through early 1980s.  Which of the talks or treaties (i.e. SALT, START -- note the typo on p. 483), seemed to successfully ease some of the tensions between the US and the USSR, and which did not? Even though detente is over by the early 1980s, did some of its accomplishments lead to lessening the sphere of influence of the USSR (consider Germany)?

9 comments:

  1. The SALT talks seemed pretty successful because agreements were made between the US and the Soviet Union. They both agreed to "freeze the number of ballistic missile launchers." However as the SALT talks continued to the second stage, negotiating became harder. The US never ratified the treaty because they accused the Soviets of violating the agreement. Further tensions amounted in the START talks. Agreements were weighted more heavily towards the US and with this controversy, negotiations dragged on. This delay of agreements just made the situation worse because both sides continued "to develop and produce more nuclear weapons rather than less." Although these may not have been perfect, at least it showed promise for more successful peace negotiations in the future.

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  2. The first treaty I noticed that eased some of the US/USSR tensions is the Non-Proliferation Treaty from July 1968 (an amendment to the Test Ban Treaty of 1963); the US and USSR ceased underwater, space, and atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Also, START I and the Ballistic Missile Treaty were successful - both aimed at simply reducing the use of weaponry. However, START II did NOT ease the tensions; Reagan accused the Soviets of violating the pact, and in turn withdrew from it. Moreover, in the SALT, people were producing more weapons rather than less, which increased tensions. I think some of the detente's accomplishments lessened the USSR's influence because Germany's boarders were recognized after signing a treaty with the FRG.

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  3. As said by Nicki and Emma the preliminary SALT meetings yielded some positive results. Like SALT 1 resulting is a plethora of ICBM and other missile types being banned from use thanks to the ABM treaty, or the Anti-Ballistic Missiles treaty. However Later talks like the START's resulted in more tension rather solutions, as the US accused the USSR of violating the regulations and rules set by previous talks.

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  4. As previous posts have mentioned, some of the meetings held had a positive outcome. Like the reading said, "the USA and USSR found themselves on the same side on this particular endeavor: neither sought to increase the number of countries with nuclear weapons; and both wanted to keep the technology up to discretion of the main powers that could be trusted to be rational actors." However few talks in particular such as STARTS's resulted in worsening tension instead of a resolution.

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  5. I think these programs did help with regard to the nuclear arms race, since lot of tension was caused by it. SALT did reduce the building of weapons in both countries. However, other programs like START raised issues, either because they weren't clearly stated or not followed. All in all it seems strange to me that both countries tried to set these regulations together, while they both knew they would still compete with each other.

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  6. I think the NPT eased tensions because both the US and USSR ceased underwater, space, and atmospheric nuclear testing. Also, the SALT/START (I'm confused) programs reduced the number of weapons and warheads. I think these programs lessened tensions between the US and USSR because the idea of MAD still lagged around I think. This definitely mad the countries feel like they were equal to one another and prevented the mass production of weapons.

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  7. The SALT [-y Dave] talks were effective in the shirt term because they opened up discussion between the US and USSR so that they could begin negotiations, and thus ease tensions. However, this became more difficult in the long term as neither side was so willing to negotiate.

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  8. The SALT talks were the most successful because of the fact that the SALT talks were the ones that both opened a line of dialogue with the USSR and also solidified things in the form of a treaty.

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  9. The Detente treaties were successful in that they allowed for conversations as apposed to each nation having to interpret each other's, frequently hostile, actions. However, this did not quite mean the treaties formed or negations would not be necessarily followed or sometimes intentionally misinterpreted. SALT was successful in minimizing the number of missiles and therefore minimizing the likely hood of mutually assured destruction while START lead to more tensions due to the things I, and my classmates before me, listed above.

    please excuse the lateness! I did not have a computer last night and there was no internet throughout the day for me to complete this assignment!

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