Trade and Scientific-Technical Cooperation with the USSR on the U.S. Leadership’s Agenda During the Era of Détente (1969–1980)
https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2024-6-99-7-32
Abstract
: Trade and scientific-technical cooperation were integral components of U.S.-Soviet relations during the détente of the 1970s. By the late 1960s, strategic parity had been achieved between the two superpowers, marking a turning point in their confrontation. The arms race came to be regarded as both costly and unsustainable. While the temporary balance of military capabilities reduced the immediate threat of war and eased direct confrontation, it also fostered the belief that strengthening commercial ties and advancing scientifictechnical programs and exchanges could provide a material foundation for lasting peace. In Moscow, this notion evolved into a programmatic directive, whereas Washington adopted a more pragmatic stance.Drawing on a broad historiographical foundation, archival documents from Russian repositories (RGANI, RGAE), published materials from the U.S. Department of State, and electronic collections of American intelligence and scientific communities, this article examines the evolving U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union in the 1970s. It focuses on the role assigned to trade, economic relations, and scientific-technical cooperation in the broader framework of superpower relations.
The study concludes that the unraveling of détente in trade and scientific-technical cooperation occurred in three distinct stages. The first stage began with the passage of the JacksonVanik Amendment in 1974, which disrupted the principle of equality in bilateral relations and inflicted considerable economic losses on the Soviet side. The second stage was marked by the Carter administration's emphasis on human rights beginning in January 1977. This introduced the threat of sanctions and escalated tensions in U.S.-Soviet relations. The third stage, initiated in December 1979 and solidified by January 1980, witnessed the dismantling of the infrastructure supporting bilateral scientific and technical cooperation. These developments underscored the shifting priorities and eventual decline of détente as a defining feature of U.S.-Soviet relations during this period.
Keywords
the detente,
Soviet-American relations,
scientific and technical cooperation,
technological exchanges,
R. Nixon,
J. Carter,
L. Brezhnev
Supporting agencies: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 24-28-01399 https://rscf.ru/en/project/24-28-01399/.
About the Author
V. T. Yungblyud
Vyatka State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Valery T. Yungblud – Doctor of History, Professor, President
Moskovskaya str., 36, 610000, Kirov, Russia
References
1. Ailes C.P., Pardee A. 2018. Cooperation in Science and Technology: An Evaluation of the U.S.Soviet Agreement. New York: Routledge. 366 p.
2. Averch H. A 1985. Strategic Analysis of Science & Technology Policy. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 216 p.
3. Bornstein M. 1985. East-West Technology Transfer: The Transfer of Western Technology to the U.S.S.R. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 190 p.
4. Brzezinski Zb. 1983. Power and Principle: Memoirs of the National Security Adviser 1977– 1981. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 567 р.
5. Carter J. 2010. White House Diary. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 510 p.
6. Chapman B. 2013. Export Controls: A Contemporary History. Washington: University Press of America. 430 р.
7. Firth N., Noren J.H. 1998. Soviet Defense Spending: a History of CIA estimates, 1950–1990. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. 291 p.
8. Ford G. 1979. A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford. New York: Harper & Row Publishers. 454 p.
9. Gaddis J.L. 1987. The Long Peace: Inquiries into the History of the Cold War. New York: Oxford University Press. 332 р.
10. Gates R.M. 1996. From the Shadows: the ultimate History of five Presidents and how they won the Cold War. New York: Simon &Shuster. 604 p.
11. Glad B. 2009. An Outsider in the White House: Jimmy Carter, his Advisors, and the making of American foreign policy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 398 р.
12. Graham L.R. 1978. How valuable are scientific Exchanges with the Soviet Union? Science.
13. New Series. Vol. 202. No. 4366. P. 383–390. DOI: 10.1126/science.705332
14. Hanhimaki J.M. 2013. The Rise and Fall of Détente: American foreign policy and the transformation of the Cold War. Washington: Potomac Books. 274 р.
15. Haslam J. 2011. Russia’s Cold War: From the October Revolutions to the fall of the Wall. New Haven: Yale University Press. 523 р.
16. Kissinger H. 1979. White House Years. Boston: Little, Brown & Company. 1521 p.
17. Kissinger H. 1982. Trading with the Russians: a political strategy for economic relations. The New Republic. P. 14–15.
18. Litwak R. 1984. Détente and the Nixon Doctrine: American Foreign Policy and the Pursuit of
19. Stability, 1966–1976. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 232 р.
20. Nelson K. 2019. The making of Détente: Soviet-American Relations in the Shadow of Vietnam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 217 p.
21. Nixon R. 1978. The Memoirs of Richard Nixon: in 2 vols. New York: Grosset & Dunlap. Vol. I. 688 p.; vol. II. 704 p.
22. Smell M. 1999. The presidency of Richard Nixon. University Press of Kansas. 387 p.
23. Smith B.L. 1992. The Advisers: scientists in the policy process. Washington: The Brookings Institution. 238 p.
24. Stever G. 1987. Presidential Science Advising: The Exodus from the White House. In Thompson K. (ed.) The Presidency and Science Advising. Vol. II. Lanham: University of Virginia Press. P. 39–54.
25. Strong R.A. 2005. Decisions and Dilemmas: Case Studies in Presidential Foreign Policy Making Since 1945. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. 268 p.
26. Vaisse J. 2018. Zbigniew Brzezinski: America’s grand Strategist. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 505 p.
27. Vance C. 1983. Hard Choices. Critical Years in American Foreign Policy. New York: Simon and Shuster. 541 p.
28. Westad O.A. 2017. The Cold War: A World History. New York: Basic Books. 720 p.
29. Krynzhina M.D. 2020. Vozmozhnosti nauchnoy diplomatii v usloviyakh sanktsiy: Opyt sovetsko-amerikanskogo nauchno-tekhnicheskogo sotrudnichestva v 1970–1980-e gg. [Opportunities for Science Diplomacy Under Sanctions: the Experience of Soviet-American Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the 1970–1980s]. Sotsiologiya nauki i tekhnologiy. Vol. 11. No. 3. P. 59–73. DOI: 10.24411/2079-0910-2020-13004 (in Russian).
30. Mitrokhin N. 2023. Ocherki sovetskoy ekonomicheskoy politiki v 1965 – 1989 godakh. V 2-kh t. T. 2. [Essays on Soviet Economic Policy 1965–1989: In 2 vol. Vol. 2]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. 606 p. (in Russian).
31. Press F. 1981. Nauka i tekhnika v Belom dome s 1977 po 1980 g. [Science and Technology in the White House from 1977 to 1980]. Moscow: INION AN SSSR. 30 p. (in Russian).
32. Yungblyud V. 2022. «Put' k Rubikonu»: amerikano-sovetskie kontakty v oblasti nauki i tekhnologiy [“The Way to the Rubicon”: American-Soviet Contacts in Science and Technology]. Quaestio Rossica. Vol. 10. No. 5. P. 1691–1707. DOI: 10.15826/qr.2022.5.755
33. Yungblyud V., Ilyin D. 2020. Popravka Dzheksona-Venika i razvitie sovetsko-amerikanskikh otnosheniy v 1972-1975 gg. [Jackson–Vanik Amendment and Development of Soviet-American Relations in 1972-1975]. MGIMO Review of International Relations. Vol. 13 (2). P. 7–39. DOI: 10.24833/2071-8160-2020-2-71-7-39 (in Russian).
34. Yungblyud V., Ilyin D. 2023a. Debaty vokrug zakonodatel'stva o vneshney torgovle SShA kak element razryadki v sovetsko-amerikanskikh otnosheniyakh (1969–1979) [Debate around U.S. Foreign Trade Legislation as an Element of Détente in Soviet-American Relations (1969–1979)]. International Trends / Mezhdunarodnye protsessy. Vol. 21 (1). P. 75–99. DOI: 10.17994/IT.2023.21.1.72.7 (in Russian).
35. Yungblyud V., Ilyin D. 2023b. Torgovo-ekonomicheskie i nauchno-tekhnicheskie svyazi SShA i SSSR v gody razryadki (Obzor rossiyskikh issledovaniy 1972–2022 gg.) [Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Relations between the USA and the USSR during the Years of Detente (Review of Russian Studies, 1972–2022)]. World Eсonomy and International Relations. Vol. 67. Is. 3. P. 116–129. DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2023-67-3-116-129 (in Russian).
36. Yungblyud V., Ilyin D. 2024. Torgovo-ekonomicheskie i nauchno-tekhnicheskie svyazi SShA i SSSR v gody razryadki. Mirovaya ekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Relations Between the USA and the USSR during the Years of Detente]. World Eсonomy and International Relations. Vol. 68. Is. 5. P. 125–141. DOI: 10.20542/0131-22272024-68-5-125-141 (in Russian).
37. Yungblyud V., Ilyin D. 2024. Problema peresmotra torgovo-kreditnogo zakonodatel'stva SShA i voprosy transfera tekhnologiy v sovetsko-amerikanskikh otnosheniyakh vo vtoroy polovine 1970-kh gg. [The Problem of Revising of US Trade and Credit Legislation and Issues of Technology Transfer in Soviet-American Relations in the Second Half of 1970s]. ISTORIYA. Vol. 15. No. 4 (138). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031334-6 (in Russian).
Review
For citations:
Yungblyud V.T. Trade and Scientific-Technical Cooperation with the USSR on the U.S. Leadership’s Agenda During the Era of Détente (1969–1980). MGIMO Review of International Relations. 2024;17(6):7-32. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2024-6-99-7-32
Views:
1188
Email this article 