SALT, Peace Accords and Red China: Détente in the Age of the Cold War

Hot Line The United States and the Soviet Union establish a radio and telegraph Hot Line between them with Hot Line Agreement . This agreement provides the first official recognition of the inherent danger of nuclear weapons and the possibility of an inadvertent war arising from technical or human error. The Hot Line has been tested every hour since 1963, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union has not altered this procedure.

Partial Test Ban Treaty August 1963 – Enacted October Proclaiming as their principal aim the speediest possible achievement of an agreement on general and complete disarmament under strict international control in accordance with the objectives of the United Nations which would put an end to the armaments race and eliminate the incentive to the production and testing of all kinds of weapons, including nuclear weapons, Prohibited testing Atmospheric Outer Space Under Water

Non-Proliferation Treaty 1968, July Signed in London, Moscow and Washington Goes into effect 1970 Agreement: Nuclear nations would not assist, encourage or transfer weapons/ secrets to non-nuclear nations Non-nuclear nations agree not to acquire said weapons Does not prevent the research or development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes Parties agree to, at the earliest date, cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament France tests its first hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific one month later

Détente A period of relaxed tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and China. February of 1972 Nixon travels to China and in May onto Moscow Nixon exploited Brezhnev’s fear of a U.S./China alliance Kissinger

SALT I 1969 First Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) between the United States and the Soviet Union begin in Helsinki, Finland. During these talks, each side gains a better understanding of the other's views and of the range of questions to be considered for how to achieve arms reductions. These discussions set the stage for the main round of talks which open in Vienna in April 1970. Several rounds of talks followed; formally ended in 1972

ABM Treaty Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty – Richard Nixon and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev sign ABM in 1972 as a part of SALT II talks -Each nation agrees to limit the deployment areas to 2 and forbade elaborate defensive systems

The First Unelected President Helsinki Accords – Series of agreements that protected basic human rights. Critics charged it was a one way street; grain and goods flowed into the Soviet Union but little, other than arms and technicians to pro-Communist places, flowed out

President Carter Panama Canal Treaty – Carter renegotiates the Panama Canal Treaty of 1903 which gave the U.S. a perpetual lease on the canal zone. The new treaty gradually turned power of the canal over to the Panamanians, which total control coming in 2000.

Camp David Accords 1977 Peace settlement between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. They met in Camp David, Maryland. Egypt became the first Arab nation to recognize the state of Israel and Israel withdrew its troops from the Sinai Peninsula.

Iran and the Hostage Crisis In 1979 the Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah of Iran. Even though he was a ruthless dictator, the Shah was pro-American and kept us supplied with oil throughout the 70s. Iranian students stormed the American embassy and held over 50 hostages for 444 days Carter’s ineffectual handling of the situation, in part led to his loss in 1980.

So Long Détente, We Hardly Knew Ya! In 1979 Carter officially recognizes Red China and exchanged ambassadors with the country. SALT II Treaty – limited the number of nuclear weapons U.S. and U.S.S.R. could hold. U.S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Middle-East Fears cause Carter to place an embargo on U.S.S.R., prohibiting sale of grains and technology, and he also boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympic games.