Beyond containment? The first Bush administration's sceptical approach to the CSCE

Author: Snyder Sarah B.  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 1468-2745

Source: Cold War History, Vol.13, Iss.4, 2013-11, pp. : 463-484

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Abstract

This article analyses the first Bush administration's policy toward the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), finding that as with Soviet-American relations and US policy toward Eastern Europe, the administration diverged from the foreign policy of its predecessor. Whereas previously the CSCE had been a forum to encourage progress on human rights, promote reform in Eastern Europe, and encourage cooperation with the Soviet Union, under Bush it became a tool to manage the transformation of Europe and preserve the Atlantic alliance. This new approach was guided by uncertainty about the CSCE's usefulness as a multilateral forum, scepticism about Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, and a preference for stability.