ABSTRACT
In 1973, states from across Europe, North America, and Eurasia came together to work out an agreement that would promote security and cooperation in Europe. The talks that lasted until 1975 are referred to as the Helsinki Process and they culminated in the Helsinki Final Act, creating the CSCE. However, much had happened up to this point that allowed for the opportunity of security and cooperation in Europe. Following two world wars, neither security nor cooperation looked especially promising when the Cold War began following the end of the Second World War in 1945. In fact, the United States and the Soviet Union would put as much effort into competing in a “cold” war as they had put into fighting a “hot” war. This Cold War between the two post-war superpowers would dominate the remaining part of the twentieth century and would bring the world close to nuclear oblivion at least once. Nevertheless, the Cold War was not always headed towards open warfare. The contest between the superpowers eventually began to look more like a stalemate than a tug-of-war. Following the move by West Germany to engage the Soviet Union, the superpowers recognized that they had a common interest in maintaining peace. It was at this time, otherwise known as Détente, that the two superpowers, their allies, and non-aligned states in Europe came together to focus on security and cooperation.
