From neutrality to commitment Dutch foreign policy, NATO and European integration - Mallinson, William (Tauris Academic Studies, 2010)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Setting the scene -- European developments and the German question: the Dutch approach -- The question of security and the Brussels Treaty Organisation -- The North Atlantic road -- From the Atlantic to Europe -- Whose Europe? -- Whose defence? -- The road to a standing army -- Towards commitment -- The European answer -- The last laugh -- Conclusions
Until the mid-twentieth century, the Dutch, with their overseas empire, had managed to stay aloof from the machinations of intra-European fighting. However, the beginning of the Cold War found them persuaded by Britain and the US to break with their independent past, and fit into the emerging Western security system. William Mallinson here considers how major post-war developments in Europe affected Dutch foreign policy, traditionally one of abstentionism, and studies the extent of Dutch influence in post-war Western co-operation. Important landmarks, including the Marshall Plan, Brussels Treaty Organisation, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Council of Europe, Schuman Plan and Pleven Plan, so vital to an understanding of contemporary international relations, are all treated incisively. The book sheds light on defence, foreign and economic policy, treating European developments from a previously neglected angle. In so doing, it provides vital insights into the history of Europeanrecovery after World War II and into the development of a postwar international order