Debating détente: NATO’s Tindemans Initiative, or why the Harmel Report still mattered in the 1980s

Scholars have long seen the Harmel Report as a significant moment in NATO’s history as the Western allies staked out a role for the Alliance in the pursuit of détente. This article examines how and why the Harmel Report’s parallel formula of defence and dialogue endured, focusing on the Alliance’s 1984 reappraisal of East-West relations, the Tindemans Initiative. A snapshot of the Alliance’s ongoing conversation about détente, the Tindemans Initiative illustrated the degree to which détente remained contested, yet also the enduring value of the Harmel Report’s ‘double philosophy’ as a mechanism to retain sufficient public support for the Alliance.

Duke Scholars

Author Susan E Colbourn Sanford School of Public Policy