Winning the Cold War: Anti-Communism, Informal Diplomacy, and the Transnational Career of Jean Violet

Abstract

The multifaceted career of the French lawyer, political advisor, voluntary intelligence officer, and anti-communist “freelancer” Jean Violet illustrates the growing importance of “informal diplomacy” during the second half of the twentieth century. In highlighting the decisive steps in Violet’s political life, aimed at defeating the communist regimes and “winning the cold war”, this paper discusses the role played by private and non-state actors in the development of a transnational European and transatlantic policy after World War II as well as the extension and professionalization of the informal diplomatic sector since the 1960s which was accompanied by an increasing lack of democratic legitimacy.