14 - Western Europe and the end of the Cold War, 1979–1989

Summary

This chapter argues that Western Europe contributed significantly to the way the Cold War ended. With its large, well-educated population, with its industrial output and technology, and with strategic access to the North Atlantic, the region always remained the greatest potential prize in the global contest between the superpowers. The West European desire to continue détente in the wake of the Afghanistan crisis acted as a brake on US policy during the ‘new’ Cold War and encouraged the improvement in relations afterwards. Perhaps more important, at the same time, West Europeans rescued their economies from the doldrums and continued to build the most successful customs union in the world in the European Community. They also strengthened democracy in Southern Europe, and remained determined, even amid the euphoria of ‘Gorbymania’, to maintain a strong North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), complete with an effective nuclear defence. This combination of strength and a willingness to talk to the other side allowed West European governments to remain popular at home, to maintain security abroad, and to pursue a dynamic policy in the Cold War, one that did much to secure a resolution on Western terms.

If the breakdown of the Soviet system is seen as the result of a long-term failure of Communism in the face of liberal capitalism, then the success of West Europeans in creating a stable, thriving democratic system – mixing economic success with social justice – was an important component of the West’s victory in the Cold War.