Book Presentation by Dr. Kai Hebel – “Britain, Détente, and the Helsinki CSCE: Fathers of the Final Act”

The Cold War Research Network is pleased to announce a book presentation at Leiden University by Dr. Kai Hebel on his recent book, Britain, Détente, and the Helsinki CSCE: Fathers of the Final Act. The book offers the first in-depth account of the United Kingdom’s contribution to the rapprochement between East and West that culminated in the successful negotiation of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975.

About the book: Britain’s role in this historic achievement has been understudied and understated. This book rectifies this shortcoming by tracing London’s important contribution to East-West diplomacy with a special focus on the negotiations of the Helsinki Final Act (1972–75). The Final Act was the product of almost three years of intense bargaining in the context of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Along with 34 other states, the UK negotiated core aspects of European international relations, including the political, territorial, and normative order of the divided continent. Taking full advantage of its new role as a member of the European Community and its traditional part in NATO, British negotiators skillfully navigated the opportunities and pitfalls of multilateral diplomacy. Their success in hammering out several of the most contested and most innovative provisions of the Helsinki Accord earned them the moniker of ‘Fathers of the Final Act’. Based on extensive archival research in eleven countries on three continents, this book traces the evolution of the negotiations, providing a compelling bottom-up account of how diplomacy works in practice against the backdrop of inter-state conflict and unequal power.

This book will be of much interest to students of and those interested in Cold War History, European and British history, and International Relations.

About the speaker: Dr. Kai Hebel is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He has published on the Cold War, the CSCE, human rights, military intervention, transatlantic relations, EU foreign policy, political culture, and film. He holds advanced degrees from the Sorbonne, Philipps-Universität Marburg, and Oxford University, including a MPhil and a DPhil in International Relations.

The discussion will be enriched by Dr. Laurien Crump (Radboud University), who will participate as a discussant on behalf of the Cold War Research Network. Drawing on her expertise in Cold War history and European international relations, she will offer reflections on Dr. Hebel’s work and contribute to the discussion following the presentation.