The Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) is usually overlooked in the literature on the Cold War and presented as the seal of detente. The Final Act came to be considered as the mere official recognition of the European balance for the sake of a fictitious dialogue and vague statements on the freer circulation of ideas, people and information. The emerging human rights movements in Eastern Europe then came as the unintentional consequence of a complete diplomatic and political failure.
It is the opinion of the author that the West neither limited its...