The Final Act: The Helsinki Accords and the Transformation of the Cold War (America in the World)

. Michael Cotey Morgan is assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

From the Back Cover"The Final Act offers by far the most comprehensive history of a critical turning point in modern international diplomacy."--Thomas Borstelmann, author of The 1970s: A New Global History from Civil Rights to Economic Inequality

It rejected the Brezhnev Doctrine, provided for German reunification, endorsed human rights as a core principle of international security, committed countries to greater transparency in economic and military affairs, and promoted the freer movement of people and information across borders. The first in-depth account of the historic diplomatic agreement that served as a blueprint for ending the Cold WarThe Helsinki Final Act was a watershed of the Cold War. Signed by thirty-five European and North American leaders at a summit in Finland in the summer of 1975, the agreement presented a vision for peace based on common principles and cooperation across the Iron Curtain. Instead of restoring the legitimacy of the Soviet bloc, Helsinki established principles that undermined it.The definitive history of the origins and legacy of this important agreement, The Final Act shows how it served as a blueprint for ending the Cold War, and how, when that conflict finally came to a close, the great powers established a new international order based on Helsinki’s enduring principles.. The Final Act is the first in-depth account of the diplomatic saga that produced this historic agreement. But after nearly three years of grinding negotiations, the Final Act reflected liberal democratic ideals mor