Cross-Curtain Radio Cooperation and New International Alignments during the Cold War

The transformation of the international system in the 1970s had remarkable consequences for East-West relations in the field of international radio communications. The two opposing blocs were compelled to join forces in an international system that was in a state of flux. Third World countries had started putting forward their demands for a “New International Information Order” and increasingly exerted pressure to achieve a reallocation of the spectrum for their own benefit. However, they were not able to reach their objectives at the World Administrative Radio Conference convened in 1979 by the International Telecommunication Union in order to reallocate the entire radio frequency spectrum. Expert groups from East and West cooperated closely on this issue, developing a coordinated strategy that enabled them to defend their shared interests.