What is the basis of Detente?

The basis for the US-Soviet détente was laid at the May 1972 Moscow Summit also known as Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement (SALT I) which sought to slow the arms race and stabilize their nuclear balance by placing qualitative and quantitative limits on the offensive strategic weapons. The basis for détente with China was complicated by the lack of diplomatic relations between the two states. However, the 1972 Shanghai Communiqué pledged both US and China to normalize relations and pursue anti hegemonic policies in Asia-Pacific region. These foundations proved to be weak to support a new international framework because the US and the Soviet Union never understood détente to mean the same thing. For the Soviet Union détente was a means to break out of containment and place US- Soviet competition on a different-more equal-basis. For the US, détente was a necessary concession intended to preserve America’s global influence at lessened cost.

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