From Helsinki to Belgrade: The First CSCE Follow-up Meeting and the Crisis of Detente

After the heads of state and government of almost all European countries, the United States and Canada signed the final communique of the CSCE conference in Helsinki on 1 August 1975, the CSCE process became a little quieter. However, apart from all the media-effective meetings between the top politicians of the USA and the USSR and beyond the Geneva disarmament negotiations, the Helsinki process turned out to be an efficient framework for the east-west negotiations. The CSCE States Belgrade meeting from October 1977 to March 1978 was the first of a total of three meetings held until the end of the Cold War. The lack of success at the Belgrade meeting – after six months of negotiations, the delegations were only able to agree on a short final document – was nevertheless a significant sign of the CSCE process itself: establishing negotiating rules, interpreting, negotiating and renegotiating. The contributions in this volume are based on recent and extensive research and offer well-founded knowledge about the Belgrade follow-up meeting from 1977/78, the Cold War and in particular about the CSCE process.