Conclusion

Abstract

When François Mitterrand acceded to the French presidency in 1981 the international security context was one of East-West hostility — détente was over; Europe was no less divided than it had been for the previous 35 years; and the coincidence of Brezhnev, Reagan and Thatcher in power in Moscow, Washington and London would seem to augur ill for a thaw in Cold War tensions. By the end of Mitterrand’s presidency, the Cold War had ended; the Soviet Union no longer existed; Communism had lost its grip on Central and Eastern Europe, while integration spread from the West; new regional power centres were emerging; and Mitterrand had outlasted all the major political leaders who had shared his early years in office.