At the beginning of June 1961, the tensions of the Cold War were supposed to abate as both sides sought a resolution. The two most important men in the world, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, met for a summit in Vienna. Yet the high hopes were disappointed. Within months the Cold War had become very hot: Khrushchev built the Berlin Wall and a year later he sent missiles to Cuba to threaten the United States directly. Despite the fact that the Vienna Summit yielded barely any tangible results, it did lead to some very important developments. The superpowers came to see for the first time that there was only one way to escape from the atomic hell of their respective arsenals: dialogue. The "peace through fear" and the "hotline" between Washington and Moscow prevented an atomic confrontation. Austria successfully demonstrated its new role as neutral state and host when Vienna became a meeting place in the Cold War. In The Vienna Summit and Its Importance in International History international experts use new Russian and Western sources to analyze what really happened during this critical time and why the parties had a close shave with catastrophe.

At the beginning of June 1961, the tensions of the Cold War were supposed to abate as both sides sought a resolution. The two most important men in the world, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, met for a summit in Vienna. Yet the high hopes were disappointed. Within months the Cold War had become very hot: Khrushchev built the Berlin Wall and a year later he sent missiles to Cuba to threaten the United States directly. Despite the fact that the Vienna Summit yielded barely any tangible results, it did lead to some very important developments. The superpowers came to see for the first time that there was only one way to escape from the atomic hell of their respective arsenals: dialogue. The "peace through fear" and the "hotline" between Washington and Moscow prevented an atomic confrontation. Austria successfully demonstrated its new role as neutral state and host when Vienna became a meeting place in the Cold War. In The Vienna Summit and Its Importance in International History international experts use new Russian and Western sources to analyze what really happened during this critical time and why the parties had a close shave with catastrophe.

This new Handbook provides readers with the tools to understand the evolution of transatlantic security from the Cold War era to the early 21st century. After World War II, the US retained a strong presence as the dominant member of NATO throughout the Cold War. Former enemies, such as Germany, became close allies, while even countries that often criticized the United States made no serious attempt to break with Washington. This pattern of security co-operation continued after the end of the Cold War, with NATO expansion eastwards extending US influence. Despite the Iraq war prompting a seemingly irreparable transatlantic confrontation, the last years of the Bush administration witnessed a warming of US-European relations, expected to continue with the Obama administration. The contributors address the following key questions arising from the history of transatlantic security relations: What lies behind the growing and continuing European dependency on security policy on the United States and what are the political consequences of this? Is this dependency likely to continue or will an independent European Common Foreign and Security Policy eventually emerge? What has been the impact of 'out-of-area' issues on transatlantic security cooperation? The essays in this Handbook cover a broad range of historical and contemporary themes, including the founding of NATO; the impact of the Korean War; the role of nuclear (non-)proliferation; perspectives of individual countries (especially France and Germany); the impact of culture, identity and representation in shaping post-Cold War transatlantic relations; institutional issues, particularly EU-NATO relations; the Middle East; and the legacy of the Cold War, notably tensions with Russia. This Handbook will be of much interest to students of transatlantic security, NATO, Cold War Studies, foreign policy and IR in general.

Aus dem Inhalt: Einfuhrung: R. Hudemann * G.-H. Soutou. Der Adel: K.F. Werner * K.O. Frhr. v. Aretin. Elites culturelles - Kulturelle Eliten: C. Charle * J.-F. Sirinelli * H.M. Bock * D. Bourel * D. Tiemann * L. Dupeux. Elites economiques - Wirtschaftliche Eliten: R. Hudemann * T. Pierenkemper * D. Barjot * P. Fridenson * H. Homburg * A. Lacroix-Riz. Elites militaires - Militarische Eliten: K.-J. Muller * B. Kroener * W. Serman * J. Delmas * M. Messerschmidt. Elites diplomatiques - Diplomatische Eliten: P. Kruger * J.-C. Allain * P. Grupp * G.-H. Soutou"