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It was in Europe that the Cold War reached a decisive turning point in the 1960s, leading to the era of d tente. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), with its Final Act in Helsinki in August 1975, led to a rapprochement between East and West in the fields of security, economy and culture. This volume offers a pilot study in what the authors perceive as the key issues within this process: an understanding over the 'German problem' (balancing the recognition of the post-war territorial status quo against a formula for the eventuality of a peaceful change of frontiers) and the Western strategy of transformation through a multiplication of contacts between the two blocs. Both of these arguments emerged from the findings of an international research project on 'D tente and CSCE in Europe, 1966-1975', funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung and headed by the two editors.

Oliver Bange is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the University of Mannheim and the coordinator of the project 'CSCE and the Transformation of Europe' funded by the VolkswagenStiftung. He holds a Ph.D. in international history from the London School of Economics (1997) and is the author of The EEC Crisis of 1963: Kennedy, Macmillan, de Gaulle and Adenauer in Conflict (Palgrave Macmillan 2000). He completed his habilitation on Ostpolitik and Détente in Europe - The Beginnings, 1966-1969, due to be published in 2009.

Gottfried Niedhart is a retired Professor of Modern History at the University of Mannheim and at present heading an international research project on " Détente and CSCE in Europe 1966-1975." He has published widely on English and German history and on the history of international relations mainly in the twentieth century and more recently on East-West relations. His publications include Geschichte Englands im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Munich 2004) and Die Außenpolitik der Weimarer Republik (Munich 2006).