Dutch Judgement: A Constructivist Analysis of the Parliamentary Debates on Spain's Accession to NATO in the Netherlands 1981-1982

Abstract

This thesis covers the debates on Spain’s request to join NATO that took place in the Dutch Parliament in 1981 and 1982. While current historiography overlooks changes in the perception of NATO as well as the Netherlands’ role in NATO during the Cold War, the research conducted in this thesis points out that these changes did in fact occur. It uses a constructivist framework and discursive analysis to uncover identity construction in the debates and finds that the entrance of the baby boomer generation into politics and the rise of the peace movement had caused NATO to become controversial. Left wing parties constructed an identity of NATO as an antidemocratic and a militarist organisation and argued that allowing Spain as a member would have negative effects on democracy in Spain as well as peace in Europe. The centre right responded to this by rejecting these assertions and by constructing an identity of NATO as a community of Western democracies that would be a means for the Spanish people to solidify its democracy and as a security guarantor that would allow Spain to embed its security policy in the international community. From this it becomes clear that the perceived role of NATO had changed both on the left and on the right. This finding encourages scholars to further trace changes in the identity of NATO during the Cold War era.