Summary
The group of dissidents inside the Soviet Union, including Natan Sharansky, formed in the wake of the Helsinki accords, which Sharansky’s 2004 article gives as the demonstration of his Linkage Policy: with Western leaders willing to link relations with the Soviets to their human-rights treatment, the group ensured Soviet human-rights policies became an issue at every international step (3D Test of Anti-Semitism: Demonization, Double Standards, Delegitimization, lines 373-375).
Details
- The group was formed “in the wake of the Helsinki accords – the very agreement that led to the establishment of the OSCE”, as the article states it (line 373).
- Its effect, as Sharansky presents it: “the Helsinki Group helped ensure that the Soviets could not take one step in the international arena without their human rights policies becoming an issue. As a result, real progress was made.” (line 375)
- Sharansky proposes the precedent be transferred to combating anti-Semitism in America’s bilateral relations with the Arab and Muslim worlds (line 377).
Related pages
3D Test of Anti-Semitism: Demonization, Double Standards, Delegitimization, Natan Sharansky, Linkage Policy, Soviet Union