Human rights and dtente inextricably intertwined during Carter's years. By promoting human rights in the USSR, Carter sought to build a domestic consensus for dtente; through bipolar dialogue, he tried to advance human rights in the USSR. But, human rights contributed to the erosion of dtente without achieving a lasting domestic consensus. Based on recently declassified archival documents, A precarious equilibrium offers a fresh interpretation of President Jimmy Carter's human rights policy and its contradictory impact on US-Soviet affairs.