Using a box model of the North Atlantic Ocean and a parameterization of Heinrich Events, we suggest that self-sustained oscillations of the large-scale oceanic circulation provide a framework to accommodate crucial elements of late Pleistocene climate variability: (i) Dansgaard-Oeschger-style oscillations with varying interstadial length, (ii) synchronization between Dansgaard-Oeschger stadials and Heinrich Events, and (iii) Younger Dryas-type events. The latter result from the restart of the oscillations after a glacial maximum and can be regarded as Dansgaard-Oeschger stadials, overprinted by rapidly changing boundary conditions.