ABSTRACT
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
part I|78 pages
Manoeuvring through multilateralism
chapter 1|19 pages
Challenging the superpower straitjacket (1965–1975)
chapter 2|17 pages
Multilateralism as small power strategy
chapter 3|18 pages
Small states, alliances and the margins for manoeuvre in the Cold War
part II|77 pages
The margins of superpower rule
chapter 5|19 pages
Manoeuvring into the Soviet market
chapter 6|20 pages
The imperative of opening to the West and the impact of the 1968 crisis
chapter 7|17 pages
Americanising the Belgian civilising mission (1941–1961)
chapter 8|19 pages
A gas giant in a small state's clothes (1981–1982)
part III|84 pages
Identity as an instrument