Ten Years After Helsinki: The Making of the European Security Regime

Divided between two military alliances, Europe has maintained stability based on political status quo and military power balance. However, European states—including neutral and nonaligned countries—have felt a need for a common policy to guarantee their security, and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was convened to address this concern. Ten years later, the authors of this study find that the outlines of a European security regime are indeed discernible. The conference in Helsinki initiated efforts for negotiated and controlled change in Europe. Contributors to this volume analyze the achievements of CSCE, consider more recent models of collective or common security systems, and deal with political and military processes at work in Europe as well as relationships with great powers and the Third World. The role of Western Europe, and particularly Finland's role as an initiator of the CSCE process, receives special attention. Documentation of the tenth anniversary meeting and the CSCE process in general are also included.