The Sonnenfeldt Doctrine: A Plan to Finlandize Eastern Europe
The Sonnenfeldt Doctrine: A Plan to Finlandize Eastern Europe

Summary/Abstract: In December 1975, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his advisor Helmut Sonnenfeldt met in London with U.S. ambassadors in European countries. The meeting dedicated to American foreign policy in Europe was secret, but information leaked to the press gave rise to the notion of the “Sonnenfeldt Doctrine,” triggering an international debate on U.S. policy towards the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Media speculation about the “doctrine” put the authorities in Warsaw in an awkward position, resulting in denials that the State Department considered Eastern Europe a Soviet sphere of influence.

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