Rivalry, mistrust and accord

Rivalry

The Cold War was characterized by intense rivalry between the two superpowers: The United States and The Soviet Union.
This rivalry manifested itself in different forms including the Arms Race, Space Race, and ideological competition.
The two superpowers competed to establish and expand their influence worldwide, resulting in many proxy wars in places like Vietnam and Afghanistan.
The domino theory put forward by the United States and the Brezhnev Doctrine from the Soviet Union reflect the intensity of the rivalry and the superpowers’ determination to prevent the other from gaining ground.

Mistrust between the Soviet Union and the United States was a hallmark of the Cold War.
The Iron Curtain speech by Winston Churchill symbolised the thick wall of mistrust between the east and west.
At the heart of the mistrust was the differing ideologies: capitalism and democracy championed by the United States and communism by the Soviet Union.
Events such as the Berlin Blockade, Cuban Missile Crisis, and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan exacerbated the mistrust between the superpowers.
Espionage was rampant as both sides spied on the other excessively, fuelling paranoia and deepening mistrust.

Despite the rivalry and mistrust, periods of accord or détente did occur during the Cold War.
The Helsinki Accords, a document that attempted to improve relations between the Communist bloc and the West, were indicative of these periods of reduced tensions.
The SALT I and SALT II agreements during the 1970s were designed to curb the arms race and were landmark attempts at détente.
The period of Détente lasted from the late 1960s to the late 1970s. During this time, both superpowers engaged in diplomatic dialogue and negotiations to prevent nuclear war.
The Reykjavik Summit in 1986 between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev represented another significant but failed attempt at accord between the superpowers. Despite the collapse of the talks, they laid the groundwork for the INF Treaty in 1987 which eliminated intermediate-range nuclear weapons.
The ultimate accord came with the end of the Cold War in 1989-1991 triggered by the fall of the Berlin Wall, collapse of the Soviet Union, and the ensuing transition from a bipolar to a unipolar world order.