Short Description
The project aims to provide the first research study on the impact that the revival of Cold War tension had, or did not have, in Southeastern Europe from 1977 up to 1989. The coming of détente in Southeastern Europe had proved particularly difficult, but since the mid-1970s several Balkan states had been pioneering the ‘Helsinki Spirit’. In 1977-78, Cold War tensions began to sharpen, leading to the escalation of East-West tension and the initiation of the so-called ‘Second Cold War’. Although the Balkan states had been frontline states of the Cold War, this did not affect the region. On the contrary, the prospect of bilateral, and at some occasions even regional cooperation, flourished. Why did this happen? Why and how was the ‘Helsinki Spirit’ not only preserved but, at least on many occasions, facilitated conflict moderation? Which factors accounted for this? Who cultivated inter-bloc contacts leading to increasing bilateral cooperation and, in the case of Greece and Bulgaria, even to the spectacular definite reconciliation of these former enemies? What was the role of non-governmental organizations and movements? How was it presented to the public opinion? Was it a rejection of the Cold War straightjacket? In attempting to answer these questions, the project will investigate not only the motives and policies of the policymakers pursuing Balkan cooperation on various levels, but also the role of cultural-societal intercourse. As new Greek and foreign documentary and other evidence on the late 1970s and the 1980s have now become – or are becoming – accessible to scholars, multi-archival research along with textual analysis of the press covering these events will offer a novel contribution to Cold War Studies and will shed light to this neglected issue of contemporary Balkan history.
Extended Description
The Balkans are not particularly associated with the idea of regional cooperation. Just to the opposite. To name one example, thousands of NATO-led foreign soldiers have been committed to the region since the mid-1990s – notably, these were NATO’s first-ever military engagements as well as crisis response and stabilization operations. Should these troops were withdrawn, new hostilities might break out tomorrow. Self-sustaining regional stability remains a good distance away. What is less known is that in the Balkans there has always existed the opposite trend – the trend to cooperation. The proposed project focus on the late Cold War period, when many Balkan statesmen and officials, academics, intellectuals and artists, as well as research institutes and social movements championed the idea of bilateral and multilateral cooperation and worked for that end. Specifically, the project aims to provide the first research study on the impact that the fall of détente had, or did not have, in Southeastern Europe from 1977 up to 1989. Although research will focus mainly on the perspective of Greece, its policy and its initiatives and motives to improve relations with its communist neighbours as well as its efforts to facilitate Balkan cooperation, the aim is to provide a comprehensive account and analysis of the ideas, protagonists, attempts, limitations and outcomes of Balkan cooperation during the period under examination.
The starting point, 1977, points to a series of pivotal developments both on the international/systemic level (bipolarity and the Cold War) and regionally. In terms of the international system, the results and conceptual premises of East-West détente were challenged (especially in the US and several major West European powers). By 1977-78, Cold War tensions began to sharpen. Nowadays there is a relative wealth of academic literature on the history of the fall of détente, with special focus on issues such as: the stalemate on Mutual Balanced Forces Reduction Talks (MBFR), the Euromissiles Crisis, the rise of peace and anti-nuclear movements in Europe or even, to some extent, the history of the foreign policies of the Balkan states during this period. However, there has been a significant historiographical lacuna concerning the impact of the resurgent Cold War tensions in the Balkans. Indeed, it appears that these did not effect major changes in international affairs in the region. It seems that the ‘Second Cold War’ did not affect the Balkans, the ‘powder keg of Europe’. Indeed, although the Balkan states were the minor allies of the superpowers, this time Southeastern Europe was not affected significantly by the increased tension between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, or by the escalating Cold War competition around the world. Why did this happen? Why and how was the ‘Helsinki Spirit’ preserved and Balkan cooperation developed? Which factors accounted for this? Who cultivated inter-bloc contacts leading to increasing bilateral cooperation and, in the case of Greece and Bulgaria, even to the spectacular definite reconciliation of these former enemies? What was the role of non-governmental organizations and movements? What was the attitude of the superpowers and other major powers, and how far did they manage to impose their will on their minor Balkan allies?
There is scant literature on regional developments in Southeastern Europe during the ‘Second Cold War’, and the impact of the new intensification of the Cold War there remains a hugely under-researched subject. Literature has dealt mainly with the preceding period, especially about Greece’s détente strategy and initiatives during the 1980s, the role of intra-bloc conflicts in the region, or national policies of the Balkan states with regard to their neighbours. However, the role of the region and the individual countries has not been examined in major works and projects which analyze, for instance, the Euromissile Crisis or the development and action of the peace and anti-nuclear movements of the 1980s. Even the fact that the region did not descend into crisis or tension along the Cold War dividing lines has effectively passed unnoticed.
The main objective of the project is to address this gap. The proper methodology capable of offering an all-inclusive account and analysis of the events is one of multi-archival and multi-layer nature. Thus, extensive archival research is undertaken. This includes research into as many US, UK, Greek, EEC/EU and NATO archives and e-sources as possible as well as in Greek, US, and UK newspaper archives, while available literature will be also used. The qualitative analysis of archival material will take advantage of the methodology and findings of disciplines such as history of international relations, international relations, political science, and intellectual and social history. The aim is to trace the formulation of the regional policy of the Balkan states, how their attitude towards broader Cold War developments influenced their viewpoint on developments in Southeastern Europe, the role of the superpowers and that of NATO and the Warsaw Pact. In addition, the impact of regional non-governmental organizations and of various movements and the effects of cultural exchanges have been largely overlooked and should be explored and assessed. Overall, the multi-archival research and multi-layer analysis will add substantially to our knowledge of developments in Southeastern Europe during the ‘Second Cold War’ and will provide more insights into the practices that helped soften solidified fronts there.
The proposed duration of the project is 32 months. The project materializes in an opportune time: new documentary and other evidence on the late 1970s and the 1980s have now become – or are becoming – accessible to scholars. Several US and UK document series (especially of the 1980s) have been declassified very recently, while archival and press/media collections referring to that period and region have barely – if at all – utilized by Greek scholars and experts. The Andreas Papandreou Archive is still ‘terra incognita’, while the Greek press of the late 1970s and the 1980s has only recently been utilized by few scholars. Meanwhile, other material, such as the NATO Archives and NATO web sources or the CIA records, remain largely untouched. The project will seek to disseminate, for the first time, the impact of this material on the conceptual and interpretative framework of Cold War Studies.
The topic, although historical in its nature and approach, has clear contemporary echoes. The project had currently assumed additional topicality and relevance given the contemporary debate about Greece’s place and role in the Balkans (and more generally, in Europe and the Atlantic community) and the need for the stabilization and economic development of Southeastern Europe. Regional cooperation (on a par with: ‘reconciliation’, ‘democratic consolidation’, ‘European integration’) has been one of the catchphrases in the Balkans since the end of the Cold War era. The expression is still present in official speeches and declarations, policy papers and media articles. It is nevertheless difficult to deny that the late Cold War era and its legacy should be one of the starting points for the explanation of the post-Cold War developments in Southeastern Europe.
