"The idea of a pan-European security conference was originally proposed by the former Soviet Union in 1954“,as Christian Nünlist from the ETH Center for Security Studies (CSS) explains in the run-up to the conference (1). At the time, the USSR saw diverse advantages in the CSCE. " Moscow's aims were primarily to obtain the West's recognition of the territorial status quo, to improve economic relations, and to dislodge the US from European affairs," says Christian Nünlist. In reality, however, the CSCE did not cement the existing status quo, but rather created the framework for overcoming it. "In addition, western and neutral diplomats managed to introduce a moral dimension into the rigid power politics of the East-West debate in 1975“.

High-ranking panel experts

Thirty years after the signing of the Helsinki Final Act, Professor Andreas Wenger of the ETH's Center for Security Studies welcomed 55 leading researchers of CSCE history from 16 countries. The scholars discussed their latest research results at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute in Rüschlikon. The debate focused on the importance of the nascent CSCE process (1969–75) for international security policy. The conference also provided a platform for former diplomats and politicians from Russia, the US, Germany, Italy, France, Britain, Romania, and Switzerland. These "CSCE veterans" shared their recollections and experiences with the scholars gathered in Rüschlikon.

Kissinger: passive at first, then driving force

Among other issues, the historians and diplomats focused on the role of the superpowers –especially on the widely discussed influence of Henry Kissinger, who, while extremely passive and disengaged at first, was a decisive influence towards the end in bilateral meetings with the Soviet Union. During the multilateral negotiations, which took place from November 1972 to July 1975 in Helsinki and Geneva, the member states of the European Community played a dominant role. European values led to a new way of thinking about security in Europe and raised hopes that the continent, which had been divided since 1947, would again become a united Europe. Furthermore, the eastern and central European nations–in particular Poland–did not restrict their role to that of alliance members of the Moscow-led bloc. Neutral countries, such as Switzerland and Austria, were often successful in mediating between East and West.

A basis of common values

In his talk, Polish Foreign Minister Adam D. Rotfeld repeatedly emphasized the importance of human rights in the context of international security policy. The transition from a totalitarian regime that controlled everyone and everything to a democratic country with a multi-party system had been difficult and a big challenge, Rotfeld said at the ETH conference. "But the Helsinki process showed how such a transformation could be accomplished in a peaceable manner."

Poland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Adam D. Rotfeld was one of the illustrious guests at the ETH conference. large

Shared values and norms were the basis of a democratic nation, said Rotfeld. Therefore, the internal affairs of a state must conform to international norms. In this context, the foreign minister also referred to terrorism and organized crime, which he said would continue to pose a threat to international security. Rotfeld thinks these problems are based on two phenomena of today's world: "A lack of shared values and politics that are shaped by populism."

A highlight of the CSCE conference came on Saturday afternoon with a discussion among eyewitnesses. For four hours, former Swiss diplomat Hansjörg Renk, Yuri Kashlev (former USSR), John Maresca (US), Jacques Andréani (France), Sir Crispin Tickell (Britain), Siegfried Bock (former GDR) and Nicolae Ecobescu (Romania) discussed their experiences and recollections and answered questions from historians.

The starting point for the end of the East-West conflict

At the end of the conference, Vojtech Mastny from Washington restated the view that while no direct causality could be established between the signing of the Helsinki Final Act and the end of the Cold War, the CSCE process was obviously the reason why the Cold War ended without violence between 1989 and 1991. Looking back, the confidence-building measures that especially the neutral and non-aligned countries had supported after 1973, together with the codification of human rights, constituted the most important contribution of the CSCE process to the course of the Cold War during its last 15 years. The CSCE provided both the framework for a radical, but regulated disarmament in Europe, as well as the inspiration for the non-violent demise of Communism in Europe.