As America absorbs the hike in OPEC oil prices and concern over human rights in the East grows, the spirit of detente ebbs. Reformers in Czechoslavakia challenge Soviet authority. The Soviet Union is mired in its own Vietnam when Afghanistan becomes a focus for superpower rivalry. Chinese manages to maintain diplomatic relations with both the United States and Russia without sacrificing its Communist ideology. The atmosphere of the Cold War is saturated with mutual fear and apprehension.
Governments increase the size of espionage establishments and increase domestic surveillance.
The late '60s and early '70s bring a new era of detente as the aging Soviet leadership reaches out to an increasingly friendly West. Ronald Reagan abhors the idea of nuclear war and is prepared to vastly increase arms expenditure to protect America. The late '60s and early '70s bring a new era of detente as the aging Soviet leadership reaches out to an increasingly friendly West. The Cold War ends in a moment of Shakespearean spectacle, and the whole world is watching. Covert action and economic intimidation power the United States' quest to keep communism out of Latin America.