Dynamic Dtente: The United States and Europe, 19641975

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This book examines the dynamic evolution of Western dtente policies which sought to transform Europe and overcome its Cold War division through more communication and engagement. Kieninger challenges the traditional Cold War narrative that dtente prolonged the division of Europe and precipitated Americas decline in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Rather, he argues that policymakers in the U.S. Department of State and in Western Europe envisaged the stability enabled by dtente as a precondition for change, as Communist regimes saw a sense of security as a prerequisite for opening up their societies to Western influence over time. Kieninger identifies the Helsinki Accords, Lyndon Johnsons bridge building, and Willy Brandts Ostpolitik as efforts aimed at constructive changes in Eastern Europe through a multiplication of contacts, communication, and cooperation on all societal levels. This study also illuminates the longevity of Americas policy of peaceful change against the background of the nuclear stalemate and the military status quo.

Reviews

Kieningers account is persuasively argued and deeply researched.... Dynamic Dtente is rooted in impressive archival and primary-source research in American state files and personal papers and a handful of German and North Atlantic Treaty Organization records.... [A] fine contribution to a growing body of work on U.S.-European relations and U.S. policy making that highlights the origins, complexities, and contradictions of dtente * Journal of American History *
This book is a tremendous achievement. On the basis of a multi-archival approach, Kieninger shows the importance of continuity in U.S. foreign policy from the 1960s to the 1970s. The East-West bridge-builders in Washington, DC, skillfully managed to survive the change of administration from Johnson to Nixon. Kieninger also demonstrates persuasively that dtente was in fact a progressive and dynamic policy that decisively contributed to bringing about the end of the Cold War. The book is well-written and full of insights, and convincingly reinterprets the prevalent narrative of the Cold War in the 1970s and 1980s. -- Klaus Larres, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Through exhaustive and extraordinarily thorough research, Stephan Kieningers Dynamic Dtente demonstrates the persistence of a transformative strategy of dtente across three different American presidential administrations, and the importance of this approach in bringing about the end of the Cold War. His book is a masterful contribution to the understanding of the dtente period and a significant addition to the historiography of the Cold War. It also holds implications for contemporary policymakers, as they weigh the balance between policies of dtente and confrontation in confronting their adversaries. -- Thomas A. Schwartz, Vanderbilt University
In this comprehensive assessment of U.S.-European relations during the 1960s and 1970s, Stephan Kieninger reveals the long-term roots and transformational impact of the dynamic conception of dtente embraced by the Johnson administration, bridge-builders in the State Department, and several Western European allies of Washington. Deeply researched and solidly argued, Dynamic Dtente offers a nuanced and original analysis of the origins, contradictions, and effects of superpower dtente. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the Cold War and its final, peaceful demise. -- Mario Del Pero, Sciences Po
Dynamic Dtente is an outstanding achievement of new Cold War history, based on truly extensive multi-archival research. It offers a fresh and fascinating analysis of the complex process of formulating Western policies leading up to the signing of the Helsinki Final Act by attaching equal importance to the actors of an emerging triangle: the Nixon-Kissinger tandem, the bridge builders in the U.S. State Department, and the West European proponents of transformation strategy. -- Csaba Bks, Corvinus University of Budapest

Author Bio

Stephan Kieninger is a historian at the Federal German Archives.