Challenging the superpower straitjacket (1965–1975) : multilateralism as an instrument of smaller powers

Abstract

In this chapter we argue that in a Cold War order largely dominated by the superpowers most European governments — both East and West — came to see multilateralism as an opportunity to either organise efforts at coordinating a position on international issues or to assert their individual interests vis-à-vis their leading superpower. Our analysis reveals on the strategies of small states to stretch their room for manoeuvre within military alliances and other forms of cooperation in Eastern and Western Europe simultaneously, with a focus on the concept of European security. The chapter deals with small powers' actions in four different multilateral contexts: Warsaw Pact, the EC/EPC, NATO and the overarching context of the European security conference (CSCE). It challenges the conventional bipolar Cold War paradigm that sees European security as shaped by the superpowers only, and proves that small powers had an explicit stake and active role in defining what security meant in the European continent.