Prospects for East-West Relations [antikvár]

IntroductionEast-West relations remain uncertain. They did not become as bad as many observers had feared in early 1980, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. For almost five years, however, there was a steady deterioration in relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. The structure of superpower relations that had been created during the 1970s was almost completely dismantled. At first Europe was less affected, but as the crisis over the Euromissiles intensified, East-West relations in Europe alsó suffered from the worsening of U.S.-Soviet relations. For the past two years, however, there has been somé easing of tensions, and the trend toward a thaw between the two superpowers has continued through the first superpower summit meeting in over six years.Nevertheless, the prospects for a significant improvement in East-West relations remain unclear. The major issues dividing the two superpowersarms control and Third World conflictshave become even more complicated, and a durable improvement in East-West relations will be extraordinarily difficult to achieve and to sustain.