ABSTRACT
Some important aspects of contemporary neutrality may bear being reiterated in a more comprehensive perspective. Especially during the "new Cold War" of the early 1980s, the European neutrals mainly worried about the arms race between the blocs, in which they were lagging farther and farther behind. A country that opted for neutrality in wars fought within that framework could therefore realistically expect to be able to fulfill its prevention duties. For the European neutrals, the state of affairs further changed for the worse with the advent of the Cold War and its aftermath. The neutrals could do little but watch those conflicts and crises with feelings of apprehension and frustration. As long as states relied on mercenaries or small professional armies, relative military parity prevailed among the members of the balance-of-power system in Europe. The East-West conflict has undoubtedly constituted the principal "conflict of reference" for the European neutrals ever since the end of the Second World War.
