The Intervention in Afghanistan and the Fall of Détente

Summary:

The relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States at the end of the 1970s was dominated by a series of conflicts over arms control issues and interventions in the Third World. In the end, the sum of these conflicts destroyed the framework of relaxation of superpower tension known as détente and ushered in a period of renewed Cold War rivalry in the early 1980s.

Now, for the first time, it is possible too look more closely at what happened in the relationship between Washington and Moscow in this era through declassified Soviet and American documents. This volume contains a number of interpretative essays from leading Cold War historians as well as some of the more important documents from American and East Bloc archives. It centers on the SALT II negotiations, on conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, and Afghanistan, and on bilateral issues, such as trade and human rights.

Participants:

James Blight, Malcolm Byrne, Dan Caldwell, Alexander Chubarian, John Gaddis, Ilya Gaiduk, Kjell Goldmann, James Hershberg, Janet Lang, Robert Legvold, Geir Lundestad, Alexander Lyakhovsky, Vojtech Mastny, Olav Njølstad, Øyvind Østerud, Helge Pharo, Carol Saivetz, David Welch, Odd Arne Westad, Vladislav Zubok.