Many experts credit the Helsinki process with helping to bring about the fall of autocratic communism in the former Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe. Certainly, the commitment of the states of Europe, the United States, and Canada to a list of 10 specific principles helped frame a climate in which the champions of human rights could make their case:

• Respect for sovereignty;
• Refraining from the use of force or threat of force;
• The inviolability of borders;
• The territorial integrity of states;
• Peaceful settlement of disputes;
• Noninterference in internal affairs;
• Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and conviction;
• The equality of peoples and the right to self-determination;
• Cooperation among states;
• The fulfillment of international legal commitments in good faith.

Western governments, the international media, and human rights organizations such as Helsinki Watch and Charter 77 applied constant pressure to the Soviet-bloc nations to free their dissidents, permit more freedom, and open their countries to international human rights standards.

In the years since the Cold War ended, OSCE has begun work on building a new European security architecture intended to prevent new dividing lines from forming on the continent. In this respect, the major arms reductions specified in the CFE (Conventional Armed Forces in Europe) Treaty, which was negotiated under OSCE auspices and signed in 1990, provides an important precedent.