The meetings brought together East and West at a time of crisis with Scottish hospitality helping to set the scene for constructive and open dialogue that was led by a number of key Edinburgh figures.

As the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war, Edinburgh University academics were at the heart of peacebuilding with a string of secret meetings convened between Kremlin and Pentagon officials.

Now, 40 years on, the ‘Edinburgh Conversations’ held at the peak of the Cold War will be commemorated with a focus on what the summits achieved and what can be learned from meetings at the time of deep and present geopolitical unease today.

Professor John Erickson, the chief architect of the Conversations, was a professor in defence studies at the university and a world-renowned expert on Soviety military affairs who was equally respected in the Kremlin and Pentagon.

The university’s principal, Sir John Burnett, co-chaired the meetings and Michael Westcott, a senior administrator at the institution, served as secretary in the face of great political and personal pressures.

Retired US Air Force Colonel Fred Clark Boli - who worked closely with Prof Erickson- will take part in an event in Edinburgh to mark the impact of the summits and what can be drawn from them.

John Sturrock KC, a mediation expert and chair the event, said the meetings helped to “thaw relations” between the East and the West.

He said: “There were many reasons for the shift in the East-West dynamic.

“The University of Edinburgh played a role in the thawing of relations which is probably more significant than any official record will ever show.

“The Conversations were characterised by open dialogue, continuity of contact, reciprocity of visits, social events and free and frank exchange of ideas.

“They helped to change mindsets and to reduce the risk of a nuclear exchange. Given how fractured East-West relations have once again become, there is surely a pressing need now to rediscover the essence of the Edinburgh Conversations.”

Mr Sturrock earlier said that East-West relations were arguably “at an all-time low” as the talks began with “diplomacy at a standstill”.

The KC came close to the summits and earlier described the “privilege” of being a “fly on the wall” in Abden House in Edinburgh as the participants gathered at the the start of one of the meetings.

By their end, it was thought that the Conversations had contributed significantly to the transition in the Soviet Union, he added.

Mr Sturrock, in an earlier article for The Scotsman, said: “It was understood than neither side wished nuclear war. A modicum of trust had been built up. Personal relationships were established across ideologies. Frank exchanges took place. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev met in Iceland and the dismantling of some nuclear weapons began,”

He added: “The key back in the 1980s was the presence of those unsung heroes, people of substance who brought to the Edinburgh Conversations their international reputations, skills and wisdom. Who – and where – are the people of this standing in 2022 and beyond?”

A Conversation about the Edinburgh Conversations (in honour of Professor John Erickson and Michael Westcott) will take place at Edinburgh Futures Institute, 1 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh on Wednesday, September 18,

Inside the top secret Edinburgh meetings that helped thaw the Cold War

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