ABSTRACT
Seventy years have passed since the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 1949. This chapter examines the attitude and behaviour of Dutch social democrats, regarding the question whether dictatorial Spain should be allowed to join NATO. Both the stance of the Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid – PvdA) and the position of the social democrat cabinet Den Uyl are examined. By researching the attitude and behaviour of these two actors, this case study will make an important contribution to existing scholarship on the margins of manoeuvre of small states, as well as the influence of domestic politics within small states on foreign policy. Moreover, the case study will contribute to the notion of the Netherlands as a critical ally. It may be expected that smaller states could exert little influence on NATO affairs, an organisation largely dominated by the United States. However, this chapter demonstrates that the Netherlands made the most of its margins of manoeuvre, making Spanish accession to the Atlantic alliance conditional on the establishment of democracy.
