Trust and Transparency at the CSCE, 1969–1975

Abstract

This chapter examines the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) from 1969 to 1975. It contends that trust was both a tool and objective of the conference, detailing how, even in the absence of trust, a major international agreement was concluded with the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the outcome of the CSCE talks. In a clear attempt to advance their respective interests, Warsaw Pact member states focused on state sovereignty and the immutability of post-World War II European borders as a cornerstone of their definition of international security, whereas North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states emphasized transparency, freer movement, and human rights, as well as confidence-building measures. As this chapter argues, the “tangled lines of trust and distrust” at the CSCE among the United States, the Western European countries, the neutral states, and the Soviet Union were incredibly complex, but they eventually secured the conference's success.