The Promises We Keep: Human Rights, the Helsinki Process and American Foreign Policy [Paperback]

William Korey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 031212189X | ISBN-13: 978-0312121891 | Publication Date: May 1994

When the Helsinki Final Act was signed in 1975, no one anticipated the extraordinary impact it would have on undermining communist rule in Eastern Europe, and bringing down the Berlin Wall. This study explores the developments in the Helsinki process that led to the historic transformation. The primary focus of the book is less upon the process itself as it is upon America's leadership role, which was central to the success of the process. That this leadership role was in fact initially lacking and how this policy developed are the subjects of this book. The Helsinki process is by no means at an end. Dr Korey also examines the xenophobic nationalisms currently tearing at the fabric of European society and that pose new and frightening human rights challenges. William Korey is the author of "The Soviet Cage", "The Key to Human Rights Implementation" and "Human Rights and the Helsinki Accord".

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Korey, director of international policy research for B'nai B'rith from 1976 to 1990, has written a book for experts, an extensively researched, blow-by-blow account of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), launched in Helsinki in 1975. While the Soviet Union, the CSCE's main sponsor, had thought it would legitimate Soviet power in Eastern Europe, in fact its tenets ultimately led to pressure on the Soviets about their human rights record and arguably helped foster the fall of communism. Korey has examined documents and interviewed diplomats to reconstruct CSCE debates, meetings and decisions. He describes Henry Kissinger's skepticism abut the principles of the Helsinki Final Act; the growth of Andrei Sakharov's monitoring organization, the Helsinki Watch Group, in the Soviet Union; the signatories' agreements to increased rights to religious practice and emigration in 1989 Vienna negotiations; and the contribution of U.S. negotiator Max Kampelman. Though Korey sees the CSCE as a success, he notes that neither it nor any other international organization has been able to curb violence in the former Yugoslavia and other European ethnic flashpoints.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The creation of international agreements can be pretty dull stuff, with tedious debates often circuitous in nature. Happily, such is not the case here. Korey, long-time Director of International Policy Research for B'nai B'rith and a human rights specialist, has produced an important and timely analysis of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and its influence on the ultimate breakup of Soviet control over Eastern Europe. The Soviets were initially interested in using the Helsinki agreement to legitimize Soviet territorial dominance in Europe, and neither Richard Nixon nor Henry Kissinger were much interested in the human rights aspects of the agreement. Over time, however, the significance of human rights protection and the concomitant right of free movement across borders led to profound changes in Europe by the end of the 1980s. Korey's study is basic to understanding the role of the Helsinki deliberations upon recent European history. For academic collections.
- Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (May 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031212189X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312121891
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,573,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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