Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit (By Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
I am pleased individually to encourage you in what seems to me to be a significant, reasonable effort to cause both the United States and Germany to understand that our interests are unacceptably endangered without a cooperative, respectful relationship with Russia. Your proposed editorial states what I deeply believe: that a “new policy of détente” is more necessary now than ever to help deal with the crises that threaten military confrontation and encourages the possibility of war. Egon Bahr gave leadership to the cause of détente. He was my friend. In his memory, all of us should be working to assure that the present crisis is resolved peacefully and constructively.
William vanden Heuvel, former US Ambassador to the European office of the United Nations and Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations
