Abstract
With respect to the original East-West structure described above, the era of detente did not lead to its real change. However, some important developments did take place that blurred the division of Europe. First, interbloc communication increased through tourism, mass communication and, to a certain extent, trade. Second, ideological confrontation ceased, despite the attempts of the socialist states and also the Reagan administration to maintain it until the mid-1980s. Although the East-West military balance remained unchanged and the level of confrontation even worsened because of the arms buildup, the policy of detente and a number of systemic processes still managed to shake some of the pillars of the traditional East-West structure.
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Endnotes
On the structural components of the East-West system, see Ray Maghroori and Bennett Ramberg, Globalism Versus Realism: International Relations’ Third Debate (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1982), p. 223.
François Heisbourg, “The General State of European Security” in Conventional Arms Control and East-West Security, ed. Robert D. Blackwill and F. Stephen Larrabee, IEWSS Research Volume (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1989) p. 1.
See, for example, Robert Jervis, “From Balance to Concert: A Study of International Security Cooperation,” World Politics 38 (October 1985), pp. 58–79.
For a general discussion of the problems of cooperation in the absence of supranational sovereignty, see Robert Jervis, “Cooperation under the Security Dilemma,” World Politics 30 (January 1978), pp. 167–214.
See S.J. Flanagan, “The CSCE and the Development of Detente,” in European Security: Prospects for the 1980s, ed. Derek Leebaert (Lexington, MA: Heath, 1979), p. 190. Ernst Kux concludes that “the turning point for the Eastern European countries and for their relations with the Soviet overlord was reached at the CSCE. For the first time they were allowed to act at least in outside appearance as equal and independent partners in the circle of the 35 participants of the CSCE.” In 1976, Brezhnev agreed at a conference of 29 European Communist and Workers Parties in East Berlin to new principles for the relations between “the fraternal parties.” In fact, these new principles to a certain extent abrogated indirectly the Brezhnev Doctrine. Such abrogation was requested, for example, by the so-called Eurocommunists. See Kux, “Soviet Reaction to the Revolution in Eastern Europe,” pp. 7–8.
See, for instance, “Soviets Propose Three-Stage Cuts in European Arms,” The New York Times, March 7, 1989. See also Markku Reina, “The Significance of the CSCE Yesterday and Now,” in Yearbook of Finnish Foreign Policy, 1989 (Helsinki: Finnish Institute of International Affairs, 1990), pp. 20–25.
See also Otmar Hoell, “Cooperation within the CSCE Context,” in CSCE: N + N Perspectives, ed. Hanspeter Neuhold (Vienna: W. Bramueller, 1987), p. 127.
In the longer term, the CSCE will at least remain a “safety net.” If the superpowers were once again to break off their dialogue, the CSCE would constitute a forum for East-West interaction to promote detente, as was the case in the early 1980s. See Heinz Gaertner, “Entspannung, Europa und die KSZE-in thematischer Überblick,” Oesterreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft 3 (1986), pp. 245–256.
See, for example, Sizoo and Jurrjens, CSCE Decision-Making, p. 21. Regarding the development of the confidence-building measures (CBM) regime within the CSCE structure, see Rolf Berg and Daniel Rotfeld, Building Security in Europe, Institute for East-West Security Studies Monograph Series, no. 2 (New York, 1985), pp. 24–27 and 76–93.
Laszlo Lang, International Regimes and the Political Economy of East-West Relations, IEWSS Occasional Paper Series, no. 13 (New York, 1989). Lang does not see the CSCE as playing any significant role in solving East-West trade problems in the future.
Quoted in Michael D. Intriligator and Hans-Adolf Jacobsen, ed. East-West Conflict (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1988) p. 14. Interpretations of how the provisions of the Final Act should affect the relations between the signatory powers can be roughly divided into two main types: the Western states see the Final Act as a “code of conduct,” while the East sees it as a “political commitment.” This division must not be interpreted as waterproof, however, but as a hypothetical assessment of the approaches of various signatory powers to the provisions of the Final Act. See for a brief analysis, Esko Antola, “Order and Change in the CSCE,” Oesterreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, 1986, no. 3, pp. 271–283.
Bruce Russett and Harvey Starr, World Politics: The Menu for Choice (New York: W.H. Freeman and Co., 1985), p. 499.
Jack Snyder, “The Gorbachev Revolution: A Waning of Soviet Expansionism,” International Security 12, no. 3 (Winter 1987–88), pp. 93–131.
For a timely and critical assessment of the confusion regarding the use of the concept of interdependence and related connotations, in particular if applied in Europe, see Gerhard Wettig, “New Thinking on Security and East-West Relations,” Problems of Communism 38, no. 1 (January–February 1989), pp. 1–14.
A West German opinion poll released in January 1989 said that 88% of those polled do not feel militarily threatened by the Soviet bloc. This kind of change in traditional threat perceptions led to a bitter political debate in the FRG between the opposition party SPD and the government about the repercussions for West German security policy. See Rolf Soderlin, “What if the Cold War Is Over?” Armed Forces Journal International (March 1989). Literature on the theory of interdependence is abundant. The theory of interdependence underscores the need to develop international institutions and rules for economic interdependence. See for background, Robert O. Keohane, After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), pp. 5–17; this book also contains strong criticism in regard to certain conclusions of the functionalist school of thought.
See Oran R. Young, “Interdependences in World Politics,” in Globalism Versus Realism: International Relations’ Third Debate, ed. Maghroori and Ramberg, pp. 57–79. In regard to the concept of “ecological interdependence” and some other new trends toward interdependence, see Marvin S. Soroos, “Global Interdependence and the Responsibilities of States: Learning from the Japanese Experience,” Journal of Peace Research 25, no. 1 (1988), pp. 17–29.
Charles Yost, The Insecurity of Nations: International Relations in the Twentieth Century (New York: Praeger, 1968), pp. 50–51.
Quoted from Philip Hanson, Western Economic Statecraft in East-West Relations, Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House Papers 40 (London, 1988). In regard to the concept of “economic security,” see, for instance, Laszlo Lang, “International Financial Security: Concepts and Outlines,” Kuelpolitika (1988), pp. 83–101.
Jozsef Bognar, “Economic Forces in the History of East-West Relations,” in Technology and Change in East-West Relations, ed. F. Stephen Larrabee, IEWSS Monograph Series, no. 6 (New York, 1988), pp. 165–180.
Angela E. Stent, “East-West Economic Relations: An East-West or a West-West Problem?” in Europe and the Superpowers, ed. Stephen Bethlen and Ivan Volgyes (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1985), pp. 141–145.
Ellen L. Frost and Angela E. Stent, “NATO’s Troubles with East-West Trade,” International Security 8, no. 1 (Summer 1988), pp. 179–200.
See H.J. Seeler, “Die Beziehungen zwischen der Europaeischen Gemeinschaft und dem Rat für gegenseitige Wirtschaftshilfe,” Europa Archiv 7 (1987), p. 198.
Michael Dobroczynski, “Rapprochement of the Peoples of Europe: Difficulties and Prospects,” International Affairs 63, no. 3 (February 1989), p. 37.
See also Jànos Màtyàs Kovàcs, “Reform Economics: The Classification Gap,” Daedalus 119, no. 1 (Winter 1990), pp. 215–248.
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© 1991 Institute for East-West Security Studies
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Rusi, A.M. (1991). The Europeanization of the East-West System. In: After the Cold War. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21350-4_4
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