<!doctype html public «-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en»> http-equiv=content-type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859–1"> West Germany’s policy toward the CSCE following the Helsinki conference was shaped by the subsequent meetings in Belgrade (1977–1978) and Madrid (1980–1983) as well as further Expert Meetings. The study shows how important the CSCE process was for Bonn as an instrument for crisis management against the backdrop of deteriorating international relations, to preserve East-West détente, and to make the Iron Curtain more permeable.