First steps toward détente : American diplomacy in the Berlin crisis, 1958-1963 / Richard D. Williamson

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : first steps to détente. Prologue : the US, USSR, and Berlin, 1953-1958. "A free city" : Khrushchev's November proposals, Allied response, and a foreign minister's conference, November 1958-May 1959. "Seeking a summit" : Khrushchev's US visit, Western heads of state meeting, the U-2 incident, and the Paris Summit, June 1959-December 1960. "Vienna & the Wall" : Kennedy's first months, Vienna Summit, the Acheson plan, and the Berlin Wall, January-August 1961. "Salami tactics" : Allied collapse, Kennedy's private approach, and showdown at Checkpoint Charlie, September-December 1961. "Vital interests" : Thompson-Gromyko in Moscow, Rusk-Gromyko in Geneva, and Rusk-Dobrynin in Washington, Geneva ENDC sessions, and Soviet missiles in Cuba, January-August 1962. "A slippery slope" : new harassment in Berlin, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Allied estrangement, and the limited test ban treaty, September 1962-November 1963. Summary : American diplomacy in the Berlin crisis

Introduction : first steps to détente -- Prologue : the US, USSR, and Berlin, 1953-1958. "A free city" : Khrushchev's November proposals, Allied response, and a foreign minister's conference, November 1958-May 1959. "Seeking a summit" : Khrushchev's US visit, Western heads of state meeting, the U-2 incident, and the Paris Summit, June 1959-December 1960. "Vienna & the Wall" : Kennedy's first months, Vienna Summit, the Acheson plan, and the Berlin Wall, January-August 1961. "Salami tactics" : Allied collapse, Kennedy's private approach, and showdown at Checkpoint Charlie, September-December 1961. "Vital interests" : Thompson-Gromyko in Moscow, Rusk-Gromyko in Geneva, and Rusk-Dobrynin in Washington, Geneva ENDC sessions, and Soviet missiles in Cuba, January-August 1962. "A slippery slope" : new harassment in Berlin, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Allied estrangement, and the limited test ban treaty, September 1962-November 1963. Summary : American diplomacy in the Berlin crisis.