Central Europe may be perceived as a homogeneous subunit: a geographic locale that shares similar cultural traits, common histories, and a linked troubled past, and one that has embarked on a joint process of European integration in the past three decades. A closer look reveals that there are significant differences hidden in the cracks and the states of Central Europe exhibit large variety in two key elements that makes regional cooperation uniquely challenging: their strategic cultures and their relations toward Russia. Two major factors determine a state’s foreign policy and international ambition – its perception of the security environment and the capabilities it possesses. Policy experts provide an overview of how these two factors, and by extension state-level foreign policies, have varied in the post-Cold War era, up until 2019. The contributing authors in this volume take a deep dive into nine Central and Eastern European states’ policies: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine. The assessments provided in this book attempt to deconstruct the monolithic regional-level approach through the methodical study of the states of the region. This approach will be particularly useful for scholars and interested individuals who want to understand why and how individual Central European states participate in NATO and EU security and defence initiatives and policies. This book was originally published as a special issue of Defense & Security Analysis.

This book analyses whether the EU’s drift towards European strategic autonomy presents a challenge or a window of opportunity for its small member states to advance their security interests. The volume presents small states’ perceptions of European strategic autonomy, highlighting their expectations and concerns. The chapters focus on the depth and breadth of European strategic autonomy, national security considerations, assessment of the impact on transatlantic relations, the expected outputs, and its potential impact on the EU’s institutional structure. It also shows how systemic circumstances and the interests of powerful states, either belonging to the EU (France, Germany, and Poland) or having a significant say in European security architecture (the US), establish opportunities and constraints for the small states to shape European strategic autonomy. In particular, the study focuses on the diverging interests of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, and the Netherlands. It demonstrates that, in most cases, European strategic autonomy is perceived not as an alternative to NATO but as a supplementary element that could facilitate the development of national military capabilities, indigenous defence industries and resilience to non-military threats. Ultimately, the book suggests that national approaches towards European strategic autonomy mainly stem from pragmatic national security and foreign policy considerations, while largely ignoring grand strategic ideas. This book will be of much interest to students of European politics, security studies, and international relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

The 2014 Ukrainian-Crimean crisis has raised serious questions in the West about Russian motivations and future policy directions. Now more than ever, it is imperative to explore the defensive perceptions, reactions, and preparations of neighbouring countries, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Is there a convergence of their approaches along similar paths, or do their different cultures and historical experiences prefigure a divergence of their defense policies? While Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic all seem to have little concern about Russia’s policies in Ukraine, the Polish response has been uniquely strong and militarized. This book will explore reasons for the different responses to the crisis.

European countries work together in crisis management, conflict prevention and many other aspects of security and defence policy. Closer cooperation in this policy arena seems to be the only viable way forward to address contemporary security challenges. Yet, despite the repeated interaction, fundamental assumptions about security and defence remain remarkably distinct across European nations. This book offers a comparative analysis of the security and defence policies of all 27 EU member states and Turkey, drawing on the concept of ‘strategic culture’, in order to examine the chances and obstacles for closer security and defence cooperation across the continent. Along the lines of a consistent analytical framework, international experts provide case studies of the current security and defence policies in Europe as well as their historical and cultural roots. ​

The series, Austrian Studies in English, founded in 1895 and comprising some 250 volumes since its inception, offers a platform for the publication of important studies concerned with the languages, the literatures and cultures of anglo-phone countries.

This book represents an overview of European security affairs as of 1989–1990. It deals with fundamental theoretical and political-strategic considerations; looks at arms-control developments; and examines European defense economies and military industrial capabilities of U.S. .

On August 24-25, 2010, the National Defense University held a conference titled “Economic Security: Neglected Dimension of National Security?” to explore the economic element of national power. This special collection of selected papers from the conference represents the view of several keynote speakers and participants in six panel discussions. It explores the complexity surrounding this subject and examines the major elements that, interacting as a system, define the economic component of national security.