Realizing the Kennedy Vision: The John F. Kennedy Institute, Paradiplomacy, and Dutch Foreign Relations, 1960s-1980s

This article examines the role of the John F. Kennedy Institute as a “paradiplomatic actor” during Detente. Inspired by Kennedy’s vision for a transformation of both transatlantic and West–East relations, the Institute sought to contribute to a Europe-wide peace system through contacts with counterparts in Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia. Relations with the Dutch Foreign Ministry were close, despite the fact that the ministry’s contacts with these Central European regimes were limited.