Book introduction

　This book investigates the Conference on Disarmament in Europe (CDE), held under the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), during the late years of the Cold War. The CDE, launched in response to escalating East-West tensions in the early 1980s, aimed to introduce confidence-building measures across the European continent from the Atlantic to the Urals. By tracing the six-year process from proposal to launch between 1977 and 1983, and the subsequent negotiations leading to its conclusion in 1986, the book highlights the role of the CDE in de-escalating international tensions. Drawing on a multi-archival approach using primary sources from British and French archives, the study demonstrates how the Western Europeans actively contributed to multilateral diplomacy during the times of U.S.-Soviet superpower rivalry. The book provides new insights into the dynamics of European détente and the foundations of the Cold War’s peaceful resolution.