Description
The Cold War is conventionally regarded as a superpower conflict that dominated the shape of international relations between World War II and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Smaller powers had to adapt to a role as pawns in a strategic game of the superpowers, its course beyond their control. This edited volume offers a fresh interpretation of twentieth-century smaller European powers – East–West, neutral and non-aligned – and argues that their position vis-à-vis the superpowers often provided them with an opportunity rather than merely representing a constraint. Analysing the margins for manoeuvre of these smaller powers, the volume covers a wide array of themes, ranging from cultural to economic issues, energy to diplomacy and Bulgaria to Belgium. Given its holistic and nuanced intervention in studies of the Cold War, this book will be instrumental for students of history, international relations and political science.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Smaller Powers in Cold War Europe
Laurien Crump and Susanna Erlandsson
Part I: Manoeuvring through Multilateralism
1. Challenging the Superpower Straightjacket (1965–1975): Multilateralism as an Instrument of Smaller Powers
Laurien Crump and Angela Romano
2. Multilateralism as Small Power Strategy (1950–1952): The Netherlands, the Benelux and the European Defence Community
Trineke Palm
3. Small States, Alliances and the Margins for Manoeuvre in the Cold War: Sweden, Norway and the CSCE
Aryo Makko
4. A Critical Ally (1949–1977): The Dutch Social Democrats, Spain and NATO
Stefanie F. M. Massink
Part II: The Margins of Superpower Rule
5. Manoeuvring into the Soviet Market: Polish and Finnish Eastern Trade Practices during the Cold War
Suvi Kansikas, Mila Oiva and Saara Matala
6. The Imperative of Opening to the West and the Impact of the 1968 Crisis: Bulgaria’s Cooperation with Denmark and West Germany in the 1960s
Elitza Stanoeva
7. Americanising the Belgian Civilising Mission (1941–1961): The Belgian Information Center in New York and the Campaign to cast the Belgian Civilising Mission as part of the Point IV Programme
Frank Gerits
8. A Gas Giant in a Small State’s Clothes (1981–1982): A Political Economy Analysis of the Dutch Margins for Manoeuvre During the Urengoy Pipeline Crisis
Marloes Beers
Part III: Identity as an Instrument
9. Neutrality as an Instrument of Small State Manoeuvring and the Globalisation of Neutrality in the Cold War
Johanna Raino-Niemi
10. Denuclearisation and Regional Cooperation: Romania’s Tactical Approaches to Escaping Bloc Rigidities
Corina Mavrodin
11. Transitional Margins to Re-Join the West: Spain’s Dual Strategy of Democratisation and Europeanisation
Cristina Blanco Sío-López
12. ‘At last, our voice is heard in the world’: Greece and the Six Nation Initiative during the Euromissile Crisis
Erini Karamouzi
Conclusion: Shedding a New Light on Cold War Europe
Laurien Crump and Susanna Erlandsson
