- Nixon stepped down sa US pres in 1974
- successor, Gerald Ford → continued policy of detente
- Ford succeeded by Jimmy Carter in 1977 → who after USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 → abandoned detente + took much more aggressive approach toward USSR
- same time → Brezhnev began to think USSR was not gaining much from detente either
Both sides began to criticise each other actions again + accused other of breaking promises
- carter blamed USSR for not settling disputes peacefully.
- according to carter → USSR making things worse → by suppling arms to allies in war zones such as angola and ethopia
- Brezhnev countered that US was doing pretty much same in Central and South America + South Africa
Also blamed each other of trying to get around various nuclear arms limitation treaties.
final nail in coffin of detente → was the soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
when carter heard about invasion → described it as “the most serious threat to peace since 2nd world war”
in some ways ⇒ detente was like plaster on scars caused by the cold war rivalry. only matter of time → before plaster fell off. behind apparent good relations during detente period → some major forces at work.