Lakhasly

In the course of the 1960s and '70s, however, the bipolar struggle between the Soviet and American blocs gave way to a more-complicated pattern of international relationships in which the world was no longer split into two clearly opposed blocs.The 1970s saw an easing of Cold War tensions as evinced in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) that led to the SALT I and II agreements of 1972 and 1979, respectively, in which the two superpowers set limits on their antiballistic missiles and on their strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.The rise to power of democratic governments in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia was quickly followed by the unification of West and East Germany under NATO auspices, again with Soviet approval.

In the course of the 1960s and ’70s, however, the bipolar struggle between the Soviet
and American blocs gave way to a more-complicated pattern of international
relationships in which the world was no longer split into two clearly opposed blocs. A
major split had occurred between the Soviet Union and China in 1960 and widened
over the years, shattering the unity of the communist bloc. In the meantime, western
Europe and Japan achieved dynamic economic growth in the 1950s and ’60s, reducing
their relative inferiority to the United States. Less-powerful countries had more room
to assert their independence and often showed themselves resistant to superpower
coercion or cajoling.
The 1970s saw an easing of Cold War tensions as evinced in the Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks (SALT) that led to the SALT I and II agreements of 1972 and 1979,
respectively, in which the two superpowers set limits on their antiballistic missiles and
on their strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. That was followed by
a period of renewed Cold War tensions in the early 1980s as the two superpowers
continued their massive arms buildup and competed for influence in the Third World.
But the Cold War began to break down in the late 1980s during the administration of
Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. He dismantled the totalitarian aspects of the Soviet
system and began efforts to democratize the Soviet political system. When communist
regimes in the Soviet-bloc countries of eastern Europe collapsed in 1989–90,
Gorbachev acquiesced in their fall. The rise to power of democratic governments in
East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia was quickly followed by the
unification of West and East Germany under NATO auspices, again with Soviet
approval.