Helsinki Revisited: A Key U.S. Negotiator's Memoirs on the Development of the CSCE into the OSCE

by John Maresca, Hafiz Pashayev (Foreword by)

Overview

The Helsinki Final Act of 1975 set in motion the legitimate, peaceful redrawing of national boundaries in many postcommunist countries—a triumph for pluralist democracy, the market economy, and personal freedom. Today, this policy serves as a diplomatic template for the proper handling of the current situation in Ukraine and crises in other regions of the former Soviet Union. A senior U.S. diplomat who operated at the center of these negotiations, John J. Maresca presents in this volume his personal recollections of the Helsinki Accords and the events that resulted in subsequent agreements.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783838208725
Publisher:	ibidem Press
Publication date:	03/29/2016
Series:	Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John J. Maresca was deputy head of the U.S. Delegation that negotiated the Helsinki Final Act, and head of the U.S. Delegation that negotiated the Paris Charter. He was also rector of the United Nations University for Peace from 2007 to 2013. He is the author of To Helsinki—the only first-hand account of the negotiation of the Helsinki Accords of 1975.

Hafiz Pashayev is rector of the ADA University at Baku and deputy foreign minister of Azerbaijan.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Stresa, 1940 1

Introduction 3

Part I 9

Brussels, 1970-73 11

The Finnish Invitation 19

Geneva, 1973-75 29

Negotiations and Realities 38

A Second Year 45

Pressing Ahead, for History 51

1975-Ford and Brezhnev Go To Helsinki 59

Part II 69

Washington, 1975 71

The President Changes, and Policies Change 80

Career Planning 85

Belgrade, 1977 87

Human Rights Activists and the CSCE 92

Leaving the CSCE 96

Europe and the Communists, 1977-85 103

Washington and the Pentagon 106

Vienna, 1989 110

Preparing the Paris Summit of 1990 122

1990-Bush and Gorbachev Go To Paris 129

Part III 137

Dissolution of the USSR-1991 139

Ambassador to the "Near Abroad" 146

Albania 152

Nagorno Karabakh 155

"Full Metal Jack" 158

The Caucasus and A First Peace Proposal 166

A Washington Farewell 173

Reflecting on Russia and the Near Abroad 183

Prague 187

Epilogue 189

Annex 191

Editorial Reviews

This book is written as a memoir, and contains new information and many fascinating insights about the development of the CSCE and its evolution into the OSCE. But it also contains some very astute analyses of current events, based on the history of the issues, which surround them. It is, in fact, a commentary on the current situations in these regions, based on the way these situations developed. A must-read for anyone who is interested in the recent history and the current and future state of affairs in Europe, including the Caucasus, Central Asia, and what Russians call their 'Near Abroad.'

Hafiz Pashayev