1989 : the struggle to create post-Cold War Europe /
Sarotte, M. E.
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press,
2014, c2009.
There are unique periods in history when a single year witnesses the total transformation of international relations. The year 1989 was one such crucial watershed. This book uses previously unavailable sources to explore the momentous events following the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago and the effects they have had on our world ever since. Based on documents, interviews, and television broadcasts from many different locations, including Moscow, Berlin, Bonn, Paris, London, and Washington, 1989 describes how Germany unified, NATO expansion began, and Russia got left on the periphery of the new Europe. Mary Sarotte explains that while it was clear past a certain point that the Soviet Bloc would crumble, there was nothing inevitable about what would follow. A wide array of political players--from leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev, Helmut Kohl, George H.W. Bush, and James Baker, to organizations like NATO and the European Community, to courageous individual dissidents--all proposed courses of action and models for the future. In front of global television cameras, a competition ensued, ultimately won by those who wanted to ensure that the "new" order looked very much like the old. Sarotte explores how the aftermath of this fateful victory, and Russian resentment of it, continue to shape world politics today. Presenting diverse perspectives from the political elite as well as ordinary citizens, 1989 is compelling reading for anyone who cares about international relations past, present, or future.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 307-335) and index.
Introduction: Creating post-Cold War Europe : 1989 and the architecture of order -- Chapter 1. What changes in Summer and Autumn 1989? -- Tiananmen fails to transfer -- The Americans step back -- The status quo ceases to convince -- East German self-confidence rises -- Television transforms reality -- Chapter 2. Restoring four-power rights, reviving a confederation in 1989 -- On the night of November 9 -- What next? -- The four (occupying?) powers -- Candy, fruit, and sex -- The Portugalov push -- Specters revive -- The restoration and revival models fall apart -- Chapter 3. Heroic aspirations in 1990 -- The fournd table -- Counterrevolution? -- The consequences of the brush with a stage of terror -- Emerging controversy over reparations and NATO -- "NATO's jurisdiction would not shift one inch eastward" -- Property pluralism -- Chapter 4. Prefab prevails -- The security solutions : two plus four equals NATO -- The political solution : article 23 -- The economic solution : monetary union -- The election campaign and the ways of the ward heeler -- The results of March 18 -- Reassuring European neighbors -- Chapter 5. Securing building permits -- The first carrot : money -- The Washington summit -- The second carrot : NATO reform -- Breakthrough in Russia -- Pay any price -- Conclusion: the legacy of 1989 and 1990 -- Counterfactuals -- Consequences.
Winner, Robert H. Ferrell Book Prize 2010, Award of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations; Co-winner, 2010 Marshall Shulman Book Prize, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies; Winner, 2009 DAAD Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in German and European Studies, awarded by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.
There are unique periods in history when a single year witnesses the total transformation of international relations. The year 1989 was one such crucial watershed. This book uses previously unavailable sources to explore the momentous events following the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago and the effects they have had on our world ever since. Based on documents, interviews, and television broadcasts from many different locations, including Moscow, Berlin, Bonn, Paris, London, and Washington, 1989 describes how Germany unified, NATO expansion began, and Russia got left on the periphery of the new Europe. Mary Sarotte explains that while it was clear past a certain point that the Soviet Bloc would crumble, there was nothing inevitable about what would follow. A wide array of political players--from leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev, Helmut Kohl, George H.W. Bush, and James Baker, to organizations like NATO and the European Community, to courageous individual dissidents--all proposed courses of action and models for the future. In front of global television cameras, a competition ensued, ultimately won by those who wanted to ensure that the "new" order looked very much like the old. Sarotte explores how the aftermath of this fateful victory, and Russian resentment of it, continue to shape world politics today. Presenting diverse perspectives from the political elite as well as ordinary citizens, 1989 is compelling reading for anyone who cares about international relations past, present, or future.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
World politics
Post-communism