ABSTRACT
Delegations assembled for nearly two years of negotiation. An impossible job faced the leader of the Soviet delegation, Anatoly Kovalev. He was instructed to finalise the division of Europe while Nato was equally committed to refusing. Kovalev’s character and passionate poetry; his commitment to détente; his role in saving Solzhenitsyn from prison. A look at other delegates. The European Community pressed for human rights and freer movement. Continuing opposition from Henry Kissinger, who saw the conference as a pointless distraction and did not believe in negotiating on the internal affairs of other powers. Neutrals and non-aligned became a significant force.
