Records on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit - Brussels, Belgium, May 29 - 30, 1989

The materials in FOIA 2003-0368-F are a selective, not necessarily all inclusive, body of documents 2003-0368-F 1 responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. FOIA request 2003-0368-F consists primarily of materials related to the United States government's participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit meeting held in Brussels, Belgium, May 29 - 30, 1989. President Bush led the U.S. delegation and participated in the meetings. The summit took place during a time of sweeping changes in the world's political and geographical landscapes. Following President Bush's commencement addresses at Texas A&M University and Boston College in May of 1989, in which he detailed the U.S.'s new approach toward the Soviet Union ("beyond containment"), the Cold War took a surprising turn as the former Communist Bloc countries of Eastern Europe began to shed Communism for Western-style republican forms of government. On May 3, 1989 the border between Austria and Hungary was opened and that following November the Berlin Wall, the most recognizable symbol of the Cold War, was dismantled, allowing freedom of travel between East Germany and West Germany. The heart of the NATO summit discussions - relations between the NATO signatories and the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact - were suddenly outdated just a few months later in the fall of 1989. FOIA request 2002-2036-F is included with this request; the materials consisting only of the WHORM Subject Files relating to the topic (FO006-01). The White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) Subject Categories consist primarily of routine transmittal memoranda between staff members passing along the following types of documents (as well as the documents themselves): talking points for the president's summit sessions and meetings with world leaders; speech drafts with edits for commencement addresses at Texas A&M University and Boston College (May 1989) in which the President outlined U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations in the wake of political changes affecting Eastern Europe in 1989; draft remarks for arrival ceremonies, toasts, and summit sessions; summit meeting agendas; press releases; position papers on topics of interest to NATO member countries and U.S. global leadership; briefing book papers outlining issues to be discussed during the NATO Summit such as CFE (Conventional Armed Forces in Europe) negotiations with the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact; the Glasnost policies of Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and their implications for U.S.-Soviet relations and Eastern Europe, and the desired (and anticipated) reunification of Germany. The Staff and Office Files records primarily consist of schedules and itineraries for the president's and Mrs. Bush's travel to the summit, as well as the president's visits to Rome, Italy (including an audience with the Pope in the Vatican), Bonn, West Germany, and London, England for meetings with the leaders of those countries which he also made during the same trip. Letters from President Bush to NATO countries regarding his plans for the summit meeting and, later, his assessments of those talks are in the materials, as well. Additionally, the materials contain routine transmittal memoranda for and including the following types of documents: meeting schedules and agendas, speech/remark drafts, press releases (the bulk of the Roman Popadiuk files), and a limited amount of background information pertaining to the countries which the president visited during his trip. Also included are biographical materials pertaining to successful nominees to ambassadorial positions to NATO member countries (resumes, biographical sketches, vitae). In addition, the material consists of a great deal of standard logistical information relating to travel, lodging, and media members to be included in the press pool during the trip. Read less