In 1986, East-West relations were imbued with a new dynamic. Mikhail Gorbachev challenged NATO with a public call for abolishing nuclear weapons. The Reykjavik Summit failed to produce an agreement, yet it raised the prospect of a world without nuclear arms. The continuation of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) further encouraged hopes for a new peaceful order in Europe. Relations between West Germany and the USSR eased following Foreign Minister Genscher's visit to Moscow, but German Chancellor Helmut Kohl promptly torpedoed the detente by comparing Gorbachev to...