The CSCE and the end of the Cold War : diplomacy, societies, and human rights, 1972-1990

"From its inception, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) provoked controversy. Today it is widely regarded as having contributed to the end of the Cold War. Bringing together new and innovative research on the CSCE, this volume explores questions key to understanding the Cold War: What role did diplomats play in shaping the 1975 Helsinki Final Act? How did that agreement and the CSCE more broadly shape societies in Europe and North America? And how did the CSCE and activists inspired by the Helsinki Final Act influence the end of the Cold War?"-- Provided by publisher Contents Acknowledgements Abbreviations Chronology of CSCE Meetings (1972–1992) Introduction PART I Diplomats, Diplomacies and the Making of the CSCE 1 The Human Dimension of the CSCE, 1975–1990 2 Executors or Creative Deal-Makers? The Role of the Diplomats in the Making of the Helsinki CSCE 3 From Talleyrand to Sakharov French Diplomacy in Search of a ‘Helsinki Effect’ 4 ‘Human Rights, Peace and Security Are Inseparable’ Max Kampelman and the Helsinki Process PART II The Transnational Promotion of Human Rights and the Role of Dissidence 5 The Committee of Concerned Scientists and the Helsinki Final Act ‘Refusenik’ Scientists, Détente and Human Rights 6 Seeing the Value of the Helsinki Accords: Human Rights, Peace and Transnational Debates about Détente, 1981–1988 7 The Importance of the Helsinki Process for the Opposition in Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Peace Movements in the 1980s 8 The Limits of Repression: Soviet Bloc Security Services vs. Transnational Helsinki Networks, 1976–1986 9 Helsinki at Home: NGOs, the Helsinki Final Act and Politics in the United States, 1975–1985 PART III The Politics of the CSCE in Europe 10 European Détente and the CSCE: Austria and the East-Central European Theatre in the 1970s and 1980s 11 Saving Détente: The Federal Republic of Germany and the CSCE in the 1980s 12 Transformation by Linkage? Arms Control, Human Rights and the Rift between Moscow and East Berlin in the Late 1980s 13 CSCE Albania, the Outsider in European Political Life Conclusion Index This chapter focuses on the division of labour between capitals and delegates to the negotiations in order to appreciate diplomats' impact on the outcome of the CSCE. The analysis here proposed is part of a complex research project that aims to assess whether diplomats on the ground and their interactions can be counted among the factors making the CSCE 'work'. More specifically, it hypothesises that they served as vital communication channels, mediators and 'trouble shooters', forming connections across the delegations of the participating states. The authors scrutinize a variety of sources and employ prosopographical methods in order to relate CSCE diplomats' personal and career trajectories to their diplomatic action on site. In this chapter, they focus on two case studies - France and the United Kingdom - in order to explain their methodological approach and offer preliminary arguments. The UK case elucidates both the division of labour between politicians and officials in capitals and diplomats on the ground and the latter's leeway in conducting the negotiations. The French case proves that research concerned with exploring relations among diplomats from delegations of different participating states can bring to the fore the meaningful impact of the 'human and socialisation factor' in determining the successful outcome of the CSCE "Although today it is wiedely regarded as having contributed to the end of the Cold War, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) provoked controversy from its inception. Bringing together new and innovative research on the CSCE, this volume explores questions key to understanding the Cold War: What role did diplomats play in shaping the 1975 Helsinki Final Act? How did that agreement and the CSCE more broadly shape societies in Europe and North America? And how did the CSCE and activists inspired by the Helsinki Final Act influence the end of the Cold War?" -- from back cover