Question

how was the united states policy of détente different from its policy of containment

Answer 1

Détente was a policy of staying out of each other's affairs and avoiding physical confrontations. Instead of fighting, the policy was to use diplomacy to keep the peace. Containment, on the flip side, was to use various means, including diplomacy and military force to prevent the spread of communism, such as in the Vietnam and Korean Wars.

Answer 2

containment policy was to limit the spread of communism during the cold war era, the detente was to ease relations between the US and the Soviet Union and to prevent a nuclear war from erupting between the two nations.