Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Human Rights and US–Soviet Relations
During the time of Detente, US–Soviet relations were beginning to get better. Thanks to Nixon, tension had been relieved and the possibility of a nuclear attack was fading from people's minds. However, come the era of the Carter administration, things began to take a turn for the worse. Matters regarding human rights in the Soviet Union were beginning to trickle into the media in the West and rekindling the flame of hatred that Americans felt for the Soviet Union. People in Russia were beginning to notice the restrictions that the government had put on their basic human rights and this was causing a lot of dissension in Russia. However, the government did not like this and began to arrest and imprison those who spoke out for human rights and claimed these activists were participating in treason against the government. After some time, a large group of Russian citizens who wanted better human rights policies signed and smuggled to the West a document called Charter 77. When the Soviet government found out about this Charter, the KGB was sent to find and arrest all who signed and/or helped in the creation and smuggling of Charter 77. However, the West was using this document and the information being sent by those in Russia in the media to help fuel the flame of activism that the American citizens were feeling toward Soviet human rights. Protests broke out advocating for human rights in the Soviet Union and the Helsinki Watch was started. This was America's way of looking out for violations of human rights in Russia and helping those who have been punished for speaking out against the Russian government. It may seem as though the US was sticking its nose into someone else's business, but just because they were in Detente does not mean the negativity toward communism had simply vanished in the US. These human rights issues simply gave America another reason to act out toward Russia and rekindle the tension between the two nations. My question for you all is do you think America (and Russia) handled the situation well? What could they have done differently?
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I believe the US wanted to use human rights to show the rest of the world that they were better than the USSR, and therefore did not handle the situation correctly.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the US used their "perfect" human rights to portray the US as the better land and others (USSR) were far worse.
ReplyDeleteThe Soviets had a special relationship with president Raegen, and he was someone they entrusted as time went on. They didn't understand why presidents rotate and leave office in the United States, and the Soviets don't respond well to change either. Carter was put in an unfortunate situation to defend the West, and being the newcomber in the situation, the Soviets immediately disliked Carter, and held this view of him for most of his presidency.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nate and Drew in that US took this issue in Russia and turned it around to be their benefit. They wanted to be the better, more powerful country, increasing the two countries' tensions with each other.
ReplyDeleteI think the US exaggerated on human rights just to show how successful the US is and how inhuman the Soviets are. This created the tension between the two countries because the US made the Soviet's reputation really bad.
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