Human Rights Activism and the End of the Cold War

A Transnational History of the Helsinki Network

Bibliographic Data

ID5704331
AuthorsAlex J Bellamy (0000-0003-2490-4613, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume99
Issue2
Pages676-677
Publication date2012-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of American History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jahist/jas289
OpenAlexW2778726828
LanguageEN
Citations received7

Despite an outpouring of literature on the topic, the end of the Cold War remains something of an enigma. Among the many theories advanced to explain the demise of the Soviet bloc, the role played by the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, which established the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (csce), has often been acknowledged but seldom spelled out in any detail. Of particular interest is the act's so-called Basket VII, focusing on “human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief”—something that obviously went against the grain for Soviet leaders of the 1970s (p. 6). This book makes extensive use of primary documents not brought to light before and remedies that problem with considerable aplomb. It provides a compelling account of the emergence and role of the csce that helps further our understanding of the end of the Cold War and improve knowledge about the place of human rights in the evolution of Europe's (loosely defined) security institutions

Cold war · Conscience · Demise · Human rights · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law

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