Università degli Studi di Pavia, IUSS, Collegio Ghislieri,
Machiavelli Center for Cold War Studies, National Security Archive, Thatcher Foundation,
Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre at St Anthony�s College

Britain and Europe in the 1980s: East & West

Pavia, Collegio Ghislieri, 1-2 October 2007


To conduct a parallel investigation of the role played by Britain in the Community and in Eastern Europe in the 1980s is a new idea launched by the international conference which is going to take place at the historical College �Ghislieri� of Pavia on October 1-2, 2007.
Challenging the stereotypical interpretation of a totally negative presence of the UK in Europe, the conference will provide a new interpretation of the end of bipolarity on both sides of the Iron Curtain in Europe. This interpretation will reveal the existence of a link connecting British policy towards the Community with the interest of the Thatcher�s governments to strengthen relations with Eastern Europe and to open a dialogue with Gorbachev in view of his role in Europe and in the triangular relation with the US. The conference will end with a round-table which will place a strong emphasis on the non-governmental initiatives of UK groups and institutions operating to the advantage of the cause of social and cultural liberalisation in Eastern Europe. The conference will make available both data and new analysis as result of a three years period of research on the British case, conducted by the Pavia study group led by Ilaria Poggiolini within the framework of a broader CIMA research project on the end of the cold war. It will also provide the unique opportunity to listen directly to the voices of such architects of British diplomacy in Europe in the 1980, as David Hannay, Stephen Wall e Rodric Braithwaite. Among the scholars and practitioners there will be Archie Brown, Alex Pravda, Jan Zielonka, Anne Deighton whose advices had been often requested by the British government, or Andrei Grachev whose close association with Gorbachev has continued to the present. Among the participants at the conference there will be the representatives of the institutions co-sponsoring the event and some senior scholars representing the avant-garde of international research on the cold war and its conclusion.
Finally, the conference ends with a very topical discussion at the round-table on the initiatives in the West during the late �80s in favour of the revitalisation of civil society in Eastern Europe. Some of these initiatives originated in the UK. The project �Freedom for Publishing, Publishing for Freedom� was launched at Oxford by Ralf Dahrendorf and Timothy Garton-Ash, but many more plans which will be discussed were carried out successfully by the Media, particularly BBC, or by the publishing world.

For information:

Secretariat, Carola Cerami
e-mail: [email protected]


Program

Britain and Europe in the 1980s: East & West

Pavia, Collegio Ghislieri, 1-2 October 2007

Monday October 1st

9,30:10,15
Opening greetings and remarks by representatives of co-sponsoring partners

Coffee break

Session I - 10,30:12,30

Man to do business with
THATCHER- GORBACHEV: HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Archie Brown, Andrei Grachev, Svetlana Savranskaya, Leopoldo Nuti (Chair)

13,00 - Lunch: Rettorato

Session II - 15,00:17,00

One Overriding Positive goal for Thatcher?
MAKING THE SINGLE MARKET: VIEWS FROM LONDON AND BRUSSELS
David Hannay, Stephen Wall, Jean Marie Palayret, Piers Ludlow, Anne Deighton (Chair)

Coffee break

17,15:18,15
General Discussion, introduced by Antonio Varsori

20,00 - Dinner


Tuesday October 2nd

Session III - 9,00:10,45

Links across the European divide
BRITISH OSTPOLITIK: ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES
Rodric Braithwaite, Alex Pravda, Frédéric Bozo, Max Guderzo (Chair)

Coffee break

11,00:13,00
Round table and conclusions
WHAT WE NOW KNOW: OPEN AND CLOSED SOCIETIES AT THE END OF THE COLD WAR
Andras Bozoki, Tom Blanton, Federico Montelli, Frances Pinter, Federico Romero, Stephen Wall, Jan Zielonka, Ilaria Poggiolini (Chair)

13,00:14,00 - Lunch and departure of guests

Scientific Commitee:

Chris Collins (Thatcher Foundation), Tom Blanton (National Security Archive, Washington) , Ennio Di Nolfo (Florence Un.), Leopoldo Nuti (Roma 3 Un.), Ilaria Poggiolini (Pavia Un.), Salvatore Veca (IUSS Pavia)

 

Papers, interviews and abstracts prepared for the upcoming conference:
Britain and Europe in the 1980s: East & West (These are for the use
of the conference participants only)
.


back >>>