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Norm Entrepreneurs and Atlanticist Foreign Policy in Central and Eastern Europe: The Missionary Zeal of Recent Converts

2013; Routledge; Volume: 65; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09668136.2013.813681

1465-3427

Kristina Mikulova, Michal Šimečka,

Global Economic and Social Development

Abstract The article discusses the role of norms in the foreign policy making of Central and East European states in the 2000s. It deconstructs the normative foundations of the so-called 'Atlanticist' orientation of Central and East European states, going beyond the standard 'neorealist' notion whereupon strategic and security concerns lead small states to align with superpowers. The case studies of the Czech and Slovak republics demonstrate that norms, such as human rights and democracy, have an autonomous and traceable effect on state behaviour. More specifically, we argue that norms have translated themselves into policy outcomes via the agency of influential 'norm entrepreneurs', such as ex-dissidents and their associates. Notes 1 'The End of an Affair? The Transatlantic Alliance is Waning in Europe's East', The Economist, 10 September 2009. 2 There are other reasons why the Czech Republic and Slovakia provide a fertile ground for process tracing of norm entrepreneurship. Structurally speaking, neither Prague nor Bratislava has faced acute security dilemmas in the post-communist era that would over-determine their choices, thus allowing for a clearer view of norms as alternative determinants of foreign policy. The Czech and Slovak cases can thus serve as templates for inquiries into patterns of norm entrepreneurship elsewhere in the post-communist region, even in countries where value-based motivations are difficult to isolate from, or are overshadowed by, material interests. Such an exercise, however, is beyond the scope of this article. 3 On the original balance of power and balance of threat theories, see Waltz (Citation1979) and Walt (Citation1987). 4 In realist theories of international relations, bandwagoning refers to the act of weaker states joining a stronger power or coalition within balance of power politics. On small states theory, see Vital (Citation1967); on symmetrical and asymmetrical alliances, see Morrow (Citation1991); for alliance formation under various levels of threat, see Weitsman (Citation2004); and for soft bandwagoning, see Foot (Citation2006) and Hansen (Citation2010). 5 For instance, the stories of Estonian military officials providing training to Saakashvili's Georgia to safeguard its NATO membership are read in the Kremlin as further evidence of Russia's encirclement by 'agents' of the US. 6 Likewise, it is difficult to pinpoint any substantial material or security benefit extracted by the Baltic states from Georgia's reformist path and NATO aspirations, let alone benefits that would offset the adverse consequences of the August 2008 war on regional stability. 7 See, for example, Programme of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for 2004–2008, available at: http://www.lrv.lt/main_en.php?cat = 16&gr = 4&d = 2001, accessed 15 December 2009; The Estonian Government's European Union Policy for 2004–2006, available at: webstatic.vm.ee/static/failid/038/Governments_European_Policy_for_2004–2006.pd, accessed 15 December 2009; The Concept of Foreign Policy of the Czech Republic for Years 2003–2006, available at: www.mzv.cz/servis/soubor.asp?id = 4191, accessed 15 December 2009; Latvia's Foreign Policy Guidelines 2006–2010, available at: http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/policy/guidlines/, accessed 15 December 2009; Strategy of the Slovak Republic: Successful Slovakia in a Secure World, available at: http://www.foreign.gov.sk/sk/zahranicna__politika/zahranicna_politika, accessed 15 December 2009. 8 Hendrik Toomas Ilves, address at Tbilisi University, Tbilisi, Georgia, 8 May 2007, available at: http://www.president.ee/en/speeches/speeches.php?gid = 93987, accessed 16 November 2009. 9 Among the largest of such events was the Congress of Prague, co-organised by the neoconservative American Enterprise in May 1996, which attracted over 300 politicians, policy makers, scholars and intellectuals from the USA, Western Europe and Central Europe. Participants included, among others, Madeleine Albright from the US State Department, Richard N. Perle from the American Enterprise Institute, Ronald Asmus from the German Marshall Fund, Bruce Jackson and Paige Reef from the US Committee of NATO, James Wolsey from the CIA and Anne Applebaum from the Washington Post. 10 See the lecture by Kaldor (Citation1999). 11 Michael Zantovsky, interview with Kristina Mikulova, 24 May 2010, London. 12 Ivan Pocuch, interview with Kristina Mikulova, 4 May 2010, Prague. 13 See Klaus (Citation2003); and the speech by President Klaus of 28 October 2007, available at: http://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/prezidenti-v-minulosti/vaclav-klaus/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/4928.shtml, accessed 2 May 2013. 14 Dienstbier and Vondra were dissidents. Svoboda, a Christian Democrat, advised the vice-premier for human rights in the early 1990s. Schwarzenberg, an émigré aristocrat, worked as Havel's aide in the early 1990s. 15 Sedivy studied at a military academy in the US. He spent a year in the Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia & Hercegovina before taking charge of the reforms in the armed forces that were necessary for the Czech Republic's NATO accession. He then became defence minister. Parkanova, a Christian Democrat, served as Chairwoman of the Czech delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, before being appointed defence minister. 16 Dobrovsky was a Charter 77 signatory and spokesman of the Civic Forum in 1989. He was defence minister from 1990 to 1992 and later director of the office of the Czech President, Vaclav Havel. 17 'EU Scraps Political Sanctions Against Cuba', Euractiv, 20 June 2008, available at: http://www.euractiv.com/global-europe/eu-scraps-political-sanctions-cu-news-220075, accessed 6 June 2013. 18 Mission statement, Shared Concern Initiative 2013, Forum 2000, available at: http://forum2000.cz/en/projects/shared-concern-initiative, accessed 14 March 2013. 19 Helena Stohanzlova, interview with Kristina Mikulova, 5 May 2010, Prague. 20 Tomas Pojar, the then-Czech Ambassador to Israel, telephone interview with Kristina Mikulova, 28 May 2010, Tel Aviv. 21 Jan Marian, interview with Kristina Mikulova, 30 April 2010, Prague. 22 'Vondra otevřel euroatlantické centrum na Ukrajině', Aktualne.cz, 10 June 2010, available at: http://zpravy.idnes.cz/vondra-otevrel-euroatlanticke-centrum-na-ukrajine-f83-/zpr_nato.asp?c = A080610_211307_zpr_nato_inc, accessed 18 December 2009. 23 Cyprus, Finland, Slovakia, Greece and Portugal were also in favour of the latter attitude (Leonard & Popescu 2007). 24 Vaclav Havel was equally harsh, invoking the memory of the 1938 Munich Agreement; see 'Řekněme nahlas, že Rusko je agresorem, vyzval Havel', Aktualne.cz, 31 August 2008, available at: http://aktualne.centrum.cz/domaci/politika/clanek.phtml?id = 615228, accessed 3 December 2009. 25 'Klaus pred velvyslanci zkritizoval zahranicni politiku', Aktualne.cz, 30 August 2011, available at: http://aktualne.centrum.cz/domaci/politika/clanek.phtml?id = 712501, accessed 3 December 2009. 26 Anonymous interview by Michal Simecka with participant at the dinner, Bratislava, 21 August 2009. 27 Alexander Duleba, director, research centre, Slovak Foreign Policy Association, interview with the authors, 4 March 2010. 28 Rastislav Kacer, interview with the authors, 12 October 2010, Bratislava. 29 Ex-ambassador and current senior official, Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, interview with Michal Simecka, 14 March 2010, Bratislava. 30 Mikulas Dzurinda, TV interview, 'Čo priniesol summit Slovensku?', TA3 television, 27 February 2005. 31 'Bratislavsky proces prispel k navratu byvalej Juhoslavie medzi demokraticke krajiny', TASR News Agency, 2 September 2010, Bratislava. 32 The Ukrainian Youth movement Pora was widely credited for facilitating the social mobilisation that helped ensure a rerun of the second round of the presidential election between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych in 2004. 33 Ex-ambassador and current senior official, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, interview with Michal Simecka, Bratislava, 3 March 2010. 34 'Chystame zvrhnut Lukasenka?', Tyzden, 23 May 2005. 35 Boris Zala, ex-chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee of Slovak Parliament, interview with the authors, 15 February 2009, Oxford. 36 Milan Nic, programme director, Pontis Foundation, interview with Kristina Mikulova, 8 February 2010, Bratislava. 37 Miroslav Wlachovsky, former adviser to the Prime Minister, interview with Kristina Mikulova, 12 March 2010, Bratislava. 38 Milan Nic, programme director, Pontis Foundation, interview with Kristina Mikulova, 8 February 2010, Bratislava. 39 Výzva na udržanie demokratickej solidarity v zahranicnej politike (Call for Sustaining Democratic Solidarity in Foreign Policy), Bratislava, 2007, available at: http://www.nadaciapontis.sk/11476Call, accessed 13 December 2009. 40 'Vojnu vyprovokovalo Gruzinsko, mysli si Fico', SITA News Agency, Bratislava, 13 August 2008, available at: http://spravy.pravda.sk/vojnu-vyprovokovalo-gruzinsko-mysli-si-fico-fau-/sk_domace.asp?c = A080813_154905_sk_domace_p23, accessed 13 December 2009. 41 'An Open Letter to the Obama Administration from Central and Eastern Europe', Gazeta Wyborcza, 15 July 2009.