Small States and Inter-European Relations: An Analysis of the Group of Nine

During the period of relative flexibility or 'detente' prior to the invasion of Czechoslovakia, a renais sance of inter-state relations took place across the alliance lines in Europe. The present article ana lyses East-West interactions among the smaller European states in the 1960s by presenting a case study based on the analysis of international events data.The focus of analysis is the so-called Group of Nine - Belgium, Denmark (NATO); Bulgaria, Hun gary, Romania (Warsaw Pact); Austria, Finland, Sweden, Yugoslavia (not aligned) - which came together at the UN in 1965 to co-sponsor a resolu tion promoting East-West cooperation in Europe. Events data provide evidence of their preferential interactions outside alliance structures and their verbal identification as an interest grouping - based on common perceived rank dissatisfaction as 'small states'. The case study is used to support certain hypotheses derived from Ralf Dahrendorf's theo ries of social conflict. In the final section, quantiative ranking of the nine states supplements events data in order to help explain why these particular states, from among the universe of European smaller states, came together in an interest grouping during conditions of detente.