ABSTRACT
Bitter arguments behind the scenes in Moscow and some East European capitals over how much was given away. In the West a barrage of ill-informed criticism from commentators who wrongly claim that the Final Act endorsed Soviet rule over Eastern Europe. Truth begins to dawn as human rights activists in Moscow and Eastern Europe mobilise to cite the Final Act against their regimes. Despite resistance from Kissinger, US Congress sets up a commission to monitor compliance and gather information on abuses of human rights. Some errors of interpretation persist among historians. New thinking among dissidents in the Soviet bloc.
