History

Kissenger , Nixon and the Dytente of 1968

The concept of dytente generally referred to a policy where neither the United States nor the Soviet Union would encroach upon one another with the hope that such an action would result in a significant lessoning of tension between the two superpowers . Of course , dytente was not made out of any real desire for peace on either side , but rather was a nice name given to a stalemate that resulted from the fear of each other 's nuclear arsenal

In 1968 , Henry Kissenger became President

Nixon 's National Security Advisor and brought with him the policy of dytente . At the center of Kissenger 's ideology , there was the belief that arms limitations would result in a lessening of tension between the two superpowers . This theory was at odds with the Pentagon 's desires as the military was interested in seeing nuclear weapons capabilities dramatically increased

Under the policies of the Nixon administration , the White House and the NSA dealt directly with the leadership of the Soviet Union and with China and reached a number of agreements on arms reductions such as the SALT talks . Also , the United States would supply Russia with wheat and oil drilling equipment as a further measure of good will

Dytente would later fall apart when the issue of the political loyalties of smaller nations was at issue . The administration had backed anti-Marxist rebels in Chile , Angola , Rhodesia , etc because (dytente notwithstanding ) it simply would be disastrous for the United States to allow allies to fall to Soviet influence . Because of this , dytente remained successful regarding the issue of nuclear weapons , but did not successfully address the issue of proxy wars in the third world...