Book Launch | The Long Détente: Changing Concepts of Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1950s-1980s 

The Woodrow Wilson Center’s History and Public Policy program invites you to a book launch and discussion with Oliver Bange and Poul Villaume on their recently published edition, titled The Long Détente: Changing Concepts of Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1950s-1980s.

Shifting the focus to European nations and societies, The Long Détente: Changing Concepts of Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1950s-1980s takes the Old Continent as the heart of the analysis of the long détente process, making it not a passive instrument in the hands of the two superpowers, but rather a fully-fledged actor in East-West relations. Studying détente in its many facets (strategic, geopolitical, diplomatic, economic and social), The Long Détente also refines the chronology of the East-West conflict, and stresses the interaction between foreign policies and domestic priorities. It offers a stimulating and quite novel addition to existing interpretations of East-West relations, with implications for contemporary diplomacy as well.

Event Speakers:

• Oliver Bange, Senior Historian, Centre for Military History and Social Science
• Poul Villaume, Professor, Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen
• Amb. James E. Goodby (Commentator), former Ambassador to Finland and Research Fellow, Hoover Institute
• Christian Ostermann (Moderator), Director, History and Public Policy Program, Wilson Center