USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Détente, French for “relaxation, ” is “a process of managing relations with a potentially hostile country in order to preserve peace while maintaining our vital interests, ” Henry Kissinger, then U.S. secretary of state, told a Congressional committee in 1974, while warning that such a relationship faces “sharp limits.”

Detailed explanation-2: -Détente, French for “lessening of tensions, ” marked a relaxing of tensions between the rival nations, exemplified by increased diplomatic, commercial, and cultural contact. Western and Eastern European countries also experienced a détente and better cooperation during this period.

Detailed explanation-3: -The disarmament agreements were treaties in which the two superpowers agreed to limit or reduce the creation of new warheads and weapons of mass destruction. This is considered to be an example of détente because it involved the two countries discussing and working together to meet a common goal.

Detailed explanation-4: -French détente comes from Old French destente, a derivative of destendre “to relax, ” a compound of the prefix des– “apart, away” (from the Latin prefix dis– with the same meanings) and the verb tendre “to stretch” (from Latin tendere).