5
and other likeminded states may yet manage to bridge it, subtly reforming US leadership
and the way America channels its animus for neo-imperial control after the September
11
th
attacks.
MAKING OF AN ALLY: FROM ISOLATION TO ENGAGEMENT IN THE WAR ON
TERROR
When Spain joined the NATO alliance in 1982, a bare seven years had passed
since Francisco Franco’s death. Although the dictator’s support for Adolf Hitler before
World War II contributed to Spain’s isolation after the Allied victory, during the long
years of exclusion from the North Atlantic community, Franco’s staunch anti-
communism won him American aid. This assistance began arriving as early as the
Truman administration. It helped pave the way for early accession to NATO and re-entry
into Europe once the dictator passed from the scene.
Upon Franco’s death, Spain flirted briefly but ultimately rejected continued
authoritarian rule. As an emerging democracy, it enjoyed a broad expansion of
institutional contacts with Europe, Latin America and the United States. In tandem with
the political transition, Spain converted some of its traditional manufacturing strengths
into valued assets for modern ventures. By the year 2000, a Spanish company could
participate along with German and French firms in the giant merger accomplished by
European Aeronautics Defence and Space (EADS) company.
7
In short, Spain found
ways to pursue new projects that reflected an advanced level of economic development
and incorporated the highest quality European and North American technologies.
7
Mason (2002).
Convention