Bilateral Summit Diplomacy in Western European and Transatlantic Relations, 1956–63

Abstract

This article examines the strengths and weaknesses of summit diplomacy in both theory and practice. The focus is bilateral summitry among the Western allies during the Cold War, but the theoretical arguments are applicable to other regions, time periods and contexts. After weighing the theoretical arguments on personal diplomacy by heads of government and state, the article analyses a series of case studies drawn from the late 1950s and early 1960s. These include meetings of British, French, West German, and US leaders and the article draws on archival research in all four countries. The meetings considered include both successful instances of personal diplomacy, such as the 1956 encounter between Konrad Adenauer of West Germany and Guy Mollet of France which led to the creation of the European Common Market, and failed summits, such as those between Charles de Gaulle of France and Harold Macmillan of Britain in 1962 on the subject of Britain’s entry into the European Community.