Dartmouth Conference On Soviet Studies: 1960-1991

According to the research of foreign scholars, the role of the non-governmental international organizations can not be ignored in the process of the cold war, but the current domestic academic research on this issue is still weak. This article attempts through the " U.S.-Soviet Dartmouth conference" case studies, which one is a typical representative of the transnational organizations under the cold war, to demonstrate the non-governmental transnational organizations as an important role in the cold war.The U.S.-Soviet Dartmouth conference is the bilateral transnational nongovernmental organization, composed of both delegations, its name comes from its first meeting venue-the Dartmouth college in the United States. The group is established by the outstanding person from all walks of life of both the United States and the Soviet union under the background of the cold war, with the conference system completed and the international cold war pattern going, the influence of the conference was expansion, the meeting target changed from "strengthening communication between the United States and the Soviet union " to"influencing the two national policies",we can say it is the product of the cold war. Meeting convened for the first time since1960, ended with the collapse of Soviet union in1991, lasted31years, has held17th congress,2emergency group meetings, and many dozens of task force meetings, has a relatively fixed delegates involved on both sides, as a form of citizen diplomacy, its long time and in-depth issues, rarely seen in history. Dartmouth conference on the basis of constant dialogue, it developed an important supplement of the United States and the Soviet union government diplomacy gradually, and efected the process of the cold war could not be ignored.This paper divides into three parts, the introduction,the main text and the concluding remark.The first part is the introduction. It contains the reserching significance of this paper, the researching situotion of U.S.-Soviet Dartmouth conference, and the researching methods of the paper.The second part is the main text, which is divided into three chapters.The first chapter introduces the background and reason of the Dartmouth conference to create. At the beginning of the World War Ⅱ ending, the main national strength obviously changed, the old West Europe-Centered international pattern was gradually replaced by the U.S.-Soviet bipolar system, the two groups had fierce confrontation of the cold war around the world, and the nuclear war may happen at any time; At the same time, the "seeking to ease" is another spur of the bilateral relations. Under such a background, the non-governmental transnational organizationes growed up, this is an effective way to strengthen the communication between the two countries,and which is aslo flexible.In the post-Stalin years, the Soviet authorities also tends to increase with external contact, Dartmouth conference is produced under sunch a background..The second chapter discusses the process and content of the Dartmouth Conference. The Dartmouth conference idea comes from Mr Norman Cousins, who is the famous American magazine "Saturday Review "editor-in-chief, but the basic reason lies in the happening of the cold war. The Dartmouth Conference process has underwent five primary stages:prepration,initial, development, maturity and ending, the target changed from "strengthen communication" to "influence government policy" on both sides; Conference format has aslo changed, from fixed plenary meeting to combined with a flexible and efficient task force meeting; Delegates from changing to stabilise, which benefits the in-depth discussion of the problem; Issue is also expanding, from the topic of nuclear weapons and arms control to political relations, economic and technological cooperation, regional conflicts to resolve, and so on.The third chapter analyses the characteristics, influence and significance of the Dartmouth Conference. The Dartmouth Conference as the bilateral non-governmental organization between the United States and the Soviet union, is a form of citizen diplomacy; it has clear organizational principle and structure; the members are the elite from all walks of life, and keep close touch with the respective government; the meeting agenda is widespread, and has achieved more significant results. Under the background of the cold war,the conference use its unique way affect the both cointries’s policy formulation and process of the cold war."Having its own definite method to influence policy formulation " is the main reason of the conference can produce important influence;"Trust" is the important reason of the conference can impact on both sides of the iron curtain policymakers;"Long term" is another reason of the conference can be for success; and the development of the process of the cold war also provides external environment conditions for this role play. When dealing with foreign relations, the historical experiences of the Dartmouth conference gives us profound enlightenment.The third part is the conclusion. Generalizing the relevant contents of the Dartmouth conference, and summing up the basic point of the paper.