Using newly available diplomatic sources from Spain and the United States dating from the 1970s to the 1990s, this article examines both the transformation of the relationship between the two countries as the Cold War came to an end in Europe and Spain's effort to conduct an “independent foreign policy” in the Mediterranean under the old bipolar system.
Franco's dictatorial regime, initially isolated after World War II, had attempted to draw closer to the West through a bilateral agreement with the United States based on an anti-communism platform as Cold War tensions grew. The article thus first considers how this bilateral relationship was affected by the process of the winding down of the Cold War.
We conclude that during this period Spain changed the manner and focus of its participation in international politics from passive to active and from bilateral to multilateral, especially with regard to Europe. Specifically, Spain, which had been drawn into the Cold War through an anti-communist bilateral partnership with the United States, gradually aimed to increase its international influence by continuously confronting its sense of rivalry and distrust towards the United States as well as its feelings of inadequacy vis- ` a-vis Europe. After democratization, Spain resolved this internal inconsistency between its foreign and domestic policies and transformed itself from an economic, military, and political dependency of the United States to a country pursuing a multilateral foreign policy.
Secondly, the article considers how the democratizing Spain, which had long hoped for a “return to Europe,” utilized the opportunities provided by the process of the Cold War' s close and how it later balanced its actions on the international stage with its bilateral relationship with the United States.
This period proved a felicitous one for the new Spain as it tried not only to return to Europe but also to expand its activities in the international arena. We conclude that Spain effectively utilized this period to achieve a reduction in the number of American troops stationed within its borders while consolidating its democracy and playing a bridging role between theWest and other Mediterranean countries. Specifically, steadily gaining the support of the public after joining the NATO and the EC, the Spanish government exhibited a flexibility that transcended bipolar divisions as the progressive PSOE (The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) moved to the right, allowing Spain to reduce its American troop burdens while maintaining balance in its relations with Europe, domestic politics, and the Spanish-American bilateral relationship.