Russian Dissidents Debate on Détente

The debate over Soviet-American detente called for by Secretary Kissinger has been in progress now for some time. Parallel with the discussions in the United States, an unofficial debate among the Soviet dissidents over the terms of detente has taken shape. Three principle camps have formed around spokesmen of courage and ability. Andrei Sakharov takes a position favoring rapprochement, but only if accompanied by the democratization of Soviet society. Roy Medvedev has become the leading advoc...