The Final Act: The Helsinki Accords and the Transformation of the Cold War

Michael Cotey Morgan

Published by Princeton University Press 2018

The Final Act

The Helsinki Accords and the Transformation of the Cold War

Michael Cotey Morgan

Volume 26 in the series America in the World

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400888870

Overview
Contents

About this book

The first in-depth account of the historic diplomatic agreement that served as a blueprint for ending the Cold War

The Helsinki Final Act was a watershed of the Cold War. Signed by thirty-five European and North American leaders at a summit in Finland in the summer of 1975, the agreement presented a vision for peace based on common principles and cooperation across the Iron Curtain. The Final Act is the first in-depth account of the diplomatic saga that produced this historic agreement. Drawing on research in eight countries and multiple languages, this gripping book explains the Final Act’s emergence from the parallel crises of the Soviet bloc and the West during the 1960s, the strategies of the major players, and the conflicting designs for international order that animated the negotiations.

Helsinki had originally been a Soviet idea. But after nearly three years of grinding negotiations, the Final Act reflected liberal democratic ideals more than communist ones. It rejected the Brezhnev Doctrine, provided for German reunification, endorsed human rights as a core principle of international security, committed countries to greater transparency in economic and military affairs, and promoted the freer movement of people and information across borders. Instead of restoring the legitimacy of the Soviet bloc, Helsinki established principles that undermined it.

The definitive history of the origins and legacy of this important agreement, The Final Act shows how it served as a blueprint for ending the Cold War, and how, when that conflict finally came to a close, the great powers established a new international order based on Helsinki’s enduring principles.

Author / Editor information

Michael Cotey Morgan is associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews

"The Final Act offers by far the most comprehensive history of a critical turning point in modern international diplomacy."—Thomas Borstelmann, author of The 1970s: A New Global History from Civil Rights to Economic Inequality

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
List of Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction. To the Helsinki Station Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. Crises of Legitimacy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
Chapter 2. The Class of 1969 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	50
Chapter 3. Creating the CSCE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
Chapter 4. The Meaning of Security Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
Chapter 5. A Declaration of Interdependence? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Chapter 6. The Closed Society and Its Enemies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Chapter 7. The Pens of August Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
Epilogue. Reunifications Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	363
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	387