27-29 April, 2006
Villa Medicea "La Ferdinanda", Artimino, Italy

INDEX

Purpose and Scope
Programme
Organization
Participation Information (New)
Authorized Users Only
Call for Papers (download in Acrobat PDF )

The conference seeks to challenge existing interpretations of the last phase of the Cold War by presenting the result of new research in the field and by introducing new interpretative paradigms. In particular, the conference is designed to work towards a new narrative of the last decade of the Cold War that accounts for the fact that several critical new aspects and factors emerged during that time that changed the nature of the international system. The conference will also try to trace the roots of the contemporary international system to the developments of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Structurally, the conference seeks to overcome the often exaggerated division in analysis of the period between the Carter and Reagan administrations by highlighting elements of continuity between the two presidencies and within the whole period in general.

At the heart of the conference is the effort to gain greater understanding for the fundamental shift from a bipolar confrontation to a truly global one, the impact of the new industrial revolution in the field of technological innovation, and the return of the US to a position of global leadership-and the interconnections between all three developments.

The conference will center around the following questions:

1) How did the US manage to recover from their temporary setback and regain the leadership
of the Western bloc?
2) How did Western Europe manage this evolution of the transatlantic relationship?
3) How did the Soviet Union and China, faced with these and other new challenges, react to the situation?
4) How did this overall transformation affect the rest of the World?

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PROGRAMME

International Conference
�From Helsinki to Gorbachev, 1975-1985: The Globalization of the Bipolar Confrontation�
Villa Medicea �La Ferdinanda�, Artimino, Italy
27-29 April 2006
Organized by the Machiavelli Center for Cold War Studies (CIMA)
Co-sponsored by the Cold War International History Project

Thursday, 27 April 2006

9:00 Opening Remarks: E. Di Nolfo

9:15-10:15 Panel 1
Roundtable: �When Empathy Failed: Why US-Soviet Détente Collapsed
in the Carter-Brezhnev Years�

Chairman: M. Byrne
Participants: J. Blight, J. M. Lang
Comment: C. Ostermann

10:30-13:00Panel 2
After Helsinki

Chairman: J. Hershberg
Discussant: V. Zubok

- P. Vaughan �Zbigniew Brzenzinski and the Helsinki Final Act�
- S. Savranskaya �Unintended Consequences: The Emergence of Human Rights Movements in the USSR after the Signing of the Helsinki Final Act, and the Reaction of the Soviet Authorities�
- A. Paczkowsky �From Amnesty to Amnesty: The Authorities and the Opposition in Poland, 1976-1986�
- S. Snyder �Ronald Reagan and the CSCE: Rethinking Traditional Cold War Narratives�

15:00-17:00Panel 3
The Euromissiles Crisis

Chairman: M. Cremasco
Discussant: F. Bozo

- H. Haftendorn �An Ambivalent Consensus: Intra-Alliance Arguments on the Euro-strategic
Balance, the NATO Two-Track Decision, and Efforts to Overcome the Deadlock
in East-West Relations�
- M. Gala �From Euromissiles to SDI: Transatlantic Relations and the End of the Extended Deterrence�
- L. Nuti �The Euromissiles Story: A Reappraisal�
- G. Wettig �The Last Soviet Offensive in the Cold War: Emergence and
Development of the Campaign Against NATO Euromissiles, 1979-1983�
- V. Dujardin �From Helsinki to the Missiles Question: A Minor Role for Small Countries,
1973-85�

17:15-19:00Panel 4
Strategic Defense and Political Problems

Chairman: T. Blanton
Discussant: M. Cremasco

- D. Adamsky �The Conceptual Military Competition: The Military-Technical Revolution as a Soviet Response to the Western Military Doctrines�
- J. Prados �The Strategic Defense Initiative: Between Strategy,
Diplomacy and U.S. Intelligence Estimates�
- S. Kalic �Reagan's SDI Announcment: A Case Study of the International
Dynamics of the late Cold War�
- F. Favino �Washington's Economic Diplomacy and the Reconstruction of U.S. Leadership�

Friday, 28 April 2006

9:00-11:00Panel 5
European Integration

Chairman: M. Guderzo
Discussant: P. Winand

- I. Poggiolini �When Did Hopes of the British Exercising Any Leadership in the Community Run in the Sand? Britain in Europe from Accession to the Single European Act�
- M.E. Guasconi �Old and New Forms of European Integration: From the EMS to the Genscher-Colombo Plan�
- W. Lippert �Economic Diplomacy and East-West Trade during the Era of Détente:
Strategy or Obstacle for the West?�
- D. Burigana �A Ghost Ship Sailing towards a European Air Space? From Airbus to Eurofighter Aircraft, European Cooperation across the Transatlantic Reef, 1974-1984�

11:15-13:00Panel 6
Crises, Realignments and the Second Cold War

Chairman: S. Wells
Discussant: V. Mastny

- P. Opris �The Polish Crisis and the Strange Stance of Romania in the Late 1970s
and Early 1980s�
- D. Selvage �The Politics of the Lesser Evil: The West, the Polish Crisis, and the CSCE Review Conference in Madrid, 1981-1983�
- R. Nation �Programming Armageddon: Warsaw Pact's War Planning, 1969-1985�
- B. Heuser �The Soviet Military's Response to the Euromissiles Crisis�
- M. Kramer "The Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact, and the Polish Crisis of 1980-1981:
Coercion, Deterrence, and Compellence in Intra-Bloc Relations"

14:45-16:30Panel 7
Eurocommunism

Chairman: B. Bagnato
Discussant: T. Blanton

- L. Fasanaro �Eurocommunism in the East-German SED Records�
- S. Pons �The Rise and Fall of Berlinguer's Eurocommunism�
- B. Rother �Between East and West: Social Democracy as Alternative to Communism
and Capitalism: Willy Brand�s Strategy as President of the Socialist International�
- O. Bange �The GDR in the Opening Years of the Second Cold War, 1978-1982�
- D. Basosi, G. Bernardini �From the Cold War to Globalization: Eurocommunism, Social-Democracy, and Neo-Liberalism, 1974-80�

16:45-18:30Panel 8A
Globalizing the Cold War (Part One)

Chairman: P. Olla
Discussant: C. Ostermann

- M. Guderzo �Carter's New Look: US Foreign Policy in Latin America, 1977-1980�
- M. Schmidli �'The Most Sophisticated Intervention We Have Seen':
The Carter Administration and the Nicaraguan Crisis, 1978-1979�
- S. Luconi �Operation Urgent Fury: The Shift from Rhetorical to Military Offensive
in Reagan�s Global Rollback of Communism�
- D. Vignati �Venezuela in Carter's Foreign Policy: a 'Regional Influential'
Country with Some Contrasting Economic interests�

16:45-18:30Panel 8B
Globalizing the Cold War (Part Two)

Chairman: L. Nuti
Discussant: J. Hershberg

- N. Mitchell �In the Sands of the Ogaden�
- S. Lorenzini �East-South Relations in the 1970s and the Added Value
of the GDR Involvement in Africa�
- M.S. Rognoni �Carter and the African Morass: U.S. Policy in Angola
and the Congo, and the failure of the State-Building Process in Post-Colonial Africa�
- B. Zanchetta �Human Rights versus Cold War: the Horn of Africa, Southwest Asia
and the Emergence of the Carter Doctrine�
- M. Cricco �Libya, the United States and USSR: From the Rise of Qadhafi
to Ronald Reagan's Policy of Pressure�

16:45- 18:30Panel 8C
Globalizing the Cold War (Part Three)

Chairman: S. Dockrill
Discussant: K. Spohr-Readman

- E. Fardella �Carter�s China Policy: Merits and Results�
- M. Merlati �The United States and the Third World in the Carter years.
The Case of India�
- M. Byrne �The Iran-Iraq War: New Evidence and Analysis�
- A. Tonini �The Precious Friend: Saudi Arabia�s Financial Contribution
to the Global Cold War�
- M.G. Enardu �How Helsinki Changed Israel: The Exodus of the Russian Jews
and Its Consequences�

Saturday, 29 April 2006

10:00-11:30Panel 9
Roundtable

Chair: E. Di Nolfo
Participants: L.V. Ferraris, V. Mastny, W. Burr

11:40Conclusions:
T. Schwartz
S. Wells

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We would like to provide you with some useful information for planning your trip and stay.

Reaching Artimino:

Artimino is an ancient little town on the hills west of Florence, about 40 minutes from downtown.

By car:
Driving along the highway A1, take the Firenze SCANDICCI exit (also referred to as Firenze Signa on your map) - Follow the signs for PISA-LIVORNO which will take you onto the Firenze-Pisa-Livorno highway - (also referred to S.G.C. Fi-Pi-Li).

After passing the exits for Lastra a Signa and Ginestra you should then take the MONTELUPO FIORENTINO exit, where you will then see a sign for Artimino. Keep to your right through the three stop signs; you will now be on state road 67 (SS 67) and should be heading towards Firenze for 5.5 kms until you reach the village of Camaioni, where ARTIMINO is indicated off to the left, and you will reach it after 2 km.

By public transports:
Public transports are available to and from Signa, and trains connecting Signa and Florence are frequent
(three per hour) and comfortable (trains timetable at www.trenitalia.com).

To the Villa:
Connections from Florence downtown to Poggio a Caiano are frequent (30-40 minutes trip). In the morning, besides a few regular trips, a "bus on call" service from Poggio a Caiano to Artimino (15 minutes trip) will be active, provided the company is informed the previous day. In the afternoon trips from Poggio a Caiano to Artimino are at 2.15 pm and at 6.10 pm, and unluckily there's no "bus on call" service in the afternoon.

From the Villa:
Artimino-Poggio a Caiano: regular busses are at 7.30 am; 2.17 pm; 3.05 pm. From Poggio a Caiano to downtown Florence,connections are very frequent. There is also the possibility to activate a "bus on call" service from the Villa to Poggio around 9.30 am. In that case, we just need to be reminded to make a phone call to the bus company the morning previous to the planned trip.

Accommodation:

For hotels and accommodation in Florence, please consult the brand new site: http://dovedormire.firenzeturismo.it/apt/firenze

For hotels near Artimino (you would need a car):

- il Borgo di Villa Castelletti: 4 km (5 min.); http://www.tuscany.net/castelletti

- Hotel Hermitage*** di Poggio a Caiano: 7 km (10 min.); http://www.hotelhermitageprato.it

- Hotel Da Vinci****, Empoli: 13 km (15 min); http://www.firenzealbergo.it/hotel/davinci/default.aspx