Suchergebnisse

Swiss Ambassador Edouard Brunner analyses the CSCE process from the first informal consultations in 1972 until its transformation into the OSCE in the 1990s. He considers the role played by the participating States, focusing on the two superpowers, the USA and the USSR, and the neutral and non-aligned states. While the main interest of the USSR lay from the start in securing an agreement on the inviolability of the post-World War II borders, the USA was at first sceptical with regard to the Conference and remained so until human rights became a priority under the Carter government. The group of neutral and non-aligned states, who often developed common positions during the Conference, played an influential role both in mediating between East and West and as the motor of negotiations. Brunner shows how the CSCE process persisted despite various major international incidents that strained East-West relations. He also demonstrates how the unexpected dynamics of the CSCE human-rights commitments contributed to destabilizing the countries of the Eastern Bloc. Being able to legitimately criticize a state for its behaviour towards its citizens, as made possible by the Helsinki Final Act, represented a near-revolutionary innovation at that time. (IFSH-Pll)