‘Playing one side against the other’ - Malta’s foreign relations in the age of détente (1969-1979)

Abstract

The Cold War (1945-1991) ran in parallel with the steady dismantling of the British Empire and the British policies of decolonisation and disengagement from the world stage. This context serves as a pre-cursor and a backdrop to Malta's coming of age as an independent nation-state. As an independent nation-state, Malta needed to formulate a foreign policy which reflected its own economic and security needs. Its early foreign policy initiatives were moulded in a tense period which was, however, characterised by a slackening of tensions between the USA and the USSR. This period is referred to as 'detente.' This study begins by providing an outline of detente. It utilises primary sources and first-hand accounts to trace some elements of Malta's foreign relations during detente. Reference is made to some key defining features of this period including the centrality of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to the security of Western Europe, Britain's declining role in international affairs, the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Sino-Soviet split. The study also discusses aspects of Malta's bilateral relations and seeks to understand the view taken in different centres of power with regards to the development of Malta's foreign policy.