This book meticulously follows the volatile and frequently
threatening relationship between the Western powers and the Soviet
Union with regard to Berlin. The authors begin their study at that
point when the State Department first considered the fate of Berlin
during World War II and take the reader through to the 1971 Four
Power Agreement that governs the present operation of the city
ending with their assessment of its implications for the future.
The book provides an in-depth understanding of the 1971 agreement
as well as the disputes and interests which defined the major
powers' positions on Berlin and, to a large extent, determined the
city's post-war fate. The authors examine in detail the
negotiations that culminated in the Four Powers Agreement and
include much heretofore unpublished information stemming from their
personal roles in the negotiating process.
Sutterlin and Klein contend that after the extended period of
dangerous tension and confrontation surrounding Berlin after World
War II, the four powers have succeeded in defining a modus vivendi
for Berlin that has substantially improved the conditions of life
for the residents of West Berlin and removed the city as a serious
hindrance to the normalization of East-West relations. The book
also asserts that the agreement led to more constructive relations
between the Soviet Union and the United States in dealing with
other world problems. At the same time the authors view the
sensitive areas of the quadripartite relationship from the
perspective of the East and West Germans presenting a situation
less than totally satisfactory. The book assesses the negotiations
leading to the 1971 agreement as successful from the Western
perspective, and probably from the Soviet Perspective as well. The
authors contend that the particular negotiating procedure followed
by Henry Kissinger and other U.S. representatives were needlessly
deceptive and dangerous as a precedent.
General
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