To what extent did Détente introduce a new era of co-operation?

After Hungary, Berlin and the Cuban missile crisis the superpowers wanted to reduce international tensions to prevent nuclear war and to cut down military expenditures. But Détente was never amity, only the easing of tensions. The Sino-Soviet split, due to ideological and territorial matters, caused China and the Soviet Union to develop better relationships with America, rather than between each other. Meetings between America and the two communist superpowers China and the …

…of mutual assured destruction or the arms race. In 1989 Reagan was elected the new president of the United States and continued the arms race. But détente had already begun to brake up due to the Iranian Revolution, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and conflicts were also to be seen during the Olympics in the summer 1980. Détente had not lead to friendship but only to decreased tension between the superpowers.