Nicolas Badalassi - Böcker

This book explores how, following the Algerian War, the Mediterranean emerged as a key battleground of the Cold War for France. Between the 1960s and 1980s, France positioned itself as the United States’ most reliable ally in countering the Soviet Union’s attempts to establish a presence in Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. To achieve this, France implemented a comprehensive containment strategy that engaged a wide range of actors and tools, including military forces, diplomats, intelligence agencies, scientists and aid workers. This approach allowed France to preserve its influence amidst the Soviet Union’s southward expansion during the global Cold War. From Lebanon to Morocco, and through Cyprus, Greece and Italy, each crisis served as a test of the complex dynamics between Paris, Moscow and Washington. France’s Mediterranean Cold War will appeal to a diverse audience, including researchers, postgraduate students in history and international relations, professionals in international relations and diplomats. It will also be of interest to general readers, offering a unique perspective on the history of the Cold War and French foreign policy and providing an alternative lens through which to understand this critical period.

Since its inception, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe has faced controversy. Today it is widely regarded as a contributing factor in the end of the Cold War, with some observers even claiming that it ushered in a "post-Westphalian" era in which multilateral diplomacy and social processes drive geopolitics. Bringing together new and innovative research on the CSCE, this volume revisits key questions in Cold War historiography: To what extent did states aid or resist the emergence of a "Helsinki paradigm?" Was the CSCE an effective response to democratic aspirations? And what was the role of nonstate actors in the eventual transformation of Europe?

From its inception, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) provoked controversy. Today it is widely regarded as having contributed to the end of the Cold War. Bringing together new and innovative research on the CSCE, this volume explores questions key to understanding the Cold War: What role did diplomats play in shaping the 1975 Helsinki Final Act? How did that agreement and the CSCE more broadly shape societies in Europe and North America? And how did the CSCE and activists inspired by the Helsinki Final Act influence the end of the Cold War?