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Twenty Years After: Dissident Tradition in Czech Foreign Policy Matters
Abstract
However obsolete it may appear in the environment of the post-1989 Czech Republic, dissident activity has left its imprint on Czech society and politics. In Czech foreign policy, there is something like a dissident tradition, which dissidents themselves seem to uphold. In the Czech foreign policy process, there exists an explicit mechanism that has incorporated the dissident tradition, which, in quite a few cases, has affected policy outcomes. The introduction of the dissident tradition into Czech foreign policy was facilitated by the dissidents’ great concern for foreign policy and for human rights issues, and, in particular, for human rights issues outside the Czech Republic. We present evidence that dissidents have been concerned with foreign policy and with human rights issues by analyzing the membership of parliamentary committees of both chambers of the Parliament as well as the dissidents’ activities in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Significantly, when activities tied to the dissident tradition emerge in the Parliament, the initiators of such activities are always (although not exclusively) dissidents; the opponents, always nondissidents.
... Even though the diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and China can be dated back to 1949, the history of Chinese engagement in the Czech territory is short. Political relations between Prague and Beijing developed step by step while in the 1990s it was slowed down by the dissident tradition in Czech foreign policy (Waisová & Piknerová, 2012). During the 1990s political relations were disrupted mainly by activities such as hanging Tibetan flags on public buildings or by then-President V. Havel's invitation to the Dalai-lama. ...
... Based on their attitude to China, Czechs may be categorised as 'hawks', 'multilateralists', 'pragmatists' and 'friends of China'. Hawks, many of them with a dissident tradition (Waisová & Piknerová, 2012), see China as a subversive non-democratic force which may destabilise Czech politics and economics and good relations with EU countries, tunnel Czech companies and use the Czech territory to launder money. Hawks are represented by several people from liberal-conservative parties TOP09 and ODS, and Social Democrats (ČSSD) (Málek, 2020). ...
The goal of the present text is to collect evidence of the rising Chinese interests and activities in Central Europe (CE) and to analyse the political, security, societal, and economic effects of Chinese engagement in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The study concludes that after one decade of optimism about mutual relations, Czechia, Poland, and Slovakia are disillusioned by the Chinese engagement, and are sobering up from the ‘Chinese dream’. Among CE countries, only Hungary has still maintained rhetoric about special relations between Budapest and Beijing and about positives resulting from China’s investments. Today, CE countries rather than developing a working partnership with China use the ‘China Card’ within the EU and towards EU authorities to get what they want.
... Even though the diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and China can be dated back to 1949, the history of Chinese engagement in the Czech territory is short. Political relations between Prague and Beijing developed step by step while in the 1990s it was slowed down by the dissident tradition in Czech foreign policy (Waisová and Piknerová 2012). During the 1990s political relations were disrupted mainly by activities such as hanging Tibetan flags on public buildings or by then-President V. Havel's invitation to the Dalai-lama. ...
... Based on their attitude to China, Czechs may be categorised as 'hawks', 'multilateralists', 'pragmatists' and 'friends of China'. Hawks, many of them with a dissident tradition (Waisová and Piknerová, 2012), see China as a subversive non-democratic force which may destabilise Czech politics and economics and good relations with EU countries, tunnel Czech companies and use the Czech territory to launder money. Hawks are represented by several people from liberal-conservative parties TOP09 and ODS, and Social Democrats (ČSSD) (Deník.cz, ...
... It is striking that the actors and the development of their approaches towards Czech foreign policy have been somewhat neglected by scholars in this "grand debate". As far as the role and influence of key players is concerned, a substantial amount of attention has been paid to the role of dominant personalities and paradigms shaping Czech foreign policy (Fawn 2003;Waisová and Piknerova 2012). Quite surprisingly, only limited attention has so far been paid to how Czech political parties treat foreign policy issues. ...
The foreign policy orientation of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries has been changing in recent years. Countries which were, since the 1990s, oriented towards structures such as NATO or EU have started to flirt with partners such as Russia and China. Apart from Russian and Chinese interventions into CEE domestic development, little is known on whta can explain these changes. Our article fills this gap by analysing the foreign policy approaches of Czech political parties. We argue that European Internationalism is the preferred direction of Czech political parties. However, changes in the Czech party system and multiple EU crises signal contestation of this direction and a possible turn to the East.
... The Czech Republic assumed a leading role in these initiatives. An active and transnationally oriented dissident community had occupied a prominent space in the country's politics, being overrepresented within the foreign policy establishment (Waisová and Piknerová 2012). Among many transitional justice measures, former dissidents were additionally responsible for establishing the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (USTR). ...
This article invites the view that the Europeanization of an antitotalitarian “collective memory” of communism reveals the emergence of a field of anticommunism. This transnational field is inextricably tied to the proliferation of state-sponsored and anticommunist memory institutes across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), but cannot be treated as epiphenomenal to their propagation. The diffusion of bodies tasked with establishing the “true” history of communism reflects, first and foremost, a shift in the region’s approach to its past, one driven by the right’s frustration over an allegedly pervasive influence of former communist cliques. Memory institutes spread as the CEE right progressively perceives their emphasis on research and public education as a safer alternative to botched lustration processes. However, the field of anticommunism extends beyond diffusion by seeking to leverage the European Union institutional apparatus to generate previously unavailable forms of symbolic capital for anticommunist narratives. This results in an entirely different challenge, which requires reconciling of disparate ideological and national interests. In this article, I illustrate some of these nationally diverse, but internationally converging, trajectories of communist extrication from the vantage point of its main exponents: the anticommunist memory entrepreneurs, who are invariably found at the helm of memory institutes. Inhabiting the space around the political, historiographic, and Eurocratic fields, anticommunist entrepreneurs weave a complex web of alliances that ultimately help produce an autonomous field of anticommunism.
... In this context, the role of intellectuals was regarded as being particularly important after the 1970's, when dissidents nourished alternative foreign policy discourses long before officials could even think of them, often even espoused their own alternative version of "critical geopolitics" (Szulecki 2015;Turkowski 2018). After 1989/1990 some of these Westernizing discourses played an important role in cementing foreign policy orientations in the newly created or newly independent states (Ditrych et al. 2013;Fawn 2003;Waisová and Linda 2012). However, as time went by, the importance of dissident intellectuals has diminished, giving place to a professionalization (Cadier and Sus 2017;Drulák 2006;Jezierska 2018;Mikulova and Simecka 2013) and 'Europeanization' of foreign policies (Denca 2009). ...
Ruling right-wing populist parties in Europe have significantly changed foreign policies and advanced criticism against core values of liberal democracy, including dismissive stances vis-à-vis the European Union. This paper argues that the reorientation of foreign policies in Hungary and Poland is consistent with ideas developed by incumbent populist right-wing parties and intellectuals of statecraft in the wider conservative movement supporting them. The contribution studies the foreign policy conceptions of right-wing forces and builds on critical geopolitics to trace these back to ideas shaped in broader right-wing networks that have played leading roles in developing a right-wing ideological alternative to liberalism.
... -Respect for authorities that promote humanistic, patriotic and at times even nationalist values as the basis for state power 2 (Baar 2001) -An ability to choose leaders based not on their political status or populist rhetoric but rather on their sense of responsibility and respect for moral standards in political life. Due to this political pragmatism, all of the V4 states have had leaders who, instead of maximising their own power, strived to uphold the highest moral standards (Waisová -Piknerová 2012). ...
The need for security and defence cooperation is a significant driver bringing together many nation‑state groupings. Today, the renewal and strengthening of this cooperation is a pressing concern for all such alliances around the world. This cooperation is rooted in the history that initially highlighted its potential, but it also encompasses contemporary relationships formed under the influence of enormous challenges and pressures. Finally it draws on the past successes and failures of the group in question. The aim of this study is to trace the beginnings of the security‑related cooperation of the Visegrad countries and locate the point of coordination of their respective security policies. My methodology is based on an analysis and synthesis of key source materials, making use of different types of analytical approaches. In order to identify the factors that connected the V4 states, I have applied a comparative method. My conclusion highlights important areas of security‑related cooperation ranging from the coordination of energy policies to military and defence matters and social protection including the fight against extremism, radicalism and hybrid threats.
... 45 Finally, work on the dissident tradition on Czech Republic foreign policy argues likewise, that to unpack a tradition, we rely on a close study of norm-promoting agents' beliefs as well as the material conditions under which foreign policy is made. 46 In Britain, finally, developments in foreign policy are commonly explained with reference to the ways in which foreign policy entrepreneurs construe the balance between the traditions of Atlanticism, Empire and Europeanism, and the way in which their worldview operates synergistically with inherited party political traditions to give shape and meaning to foreign policy actions (feeding the articles below by Oliver Daddow and Falk Ostermann). 47 Not all of the scholars producing the literature above share one method of researching foreign policy, nor do they entirely agree on how to package and describe the traditions that they set out to interpret. ...
This Special Issue advances an interpretive research programme into Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) and International Relations by showcasing new work on the study of foreign policy and regional cooperation. This introductory article explains the rationale and contents of the Special Issue in three parts. The opening part explains how the contributions complement the broader study of ideas in FPA and International Relations through a critique of methodological positivism in the social sciences. The second part elaborates the theoretical framework used to cohere the collection, which centres on the study of ‘situated agents’ who, when confronted with policy dilemmas, draw on inherited traditions to inform their foreign policy practices. This is accompanied by a methods case study centring on David Cameron’s European Union referendum strategy, which is used to illustrate the practical ways in which one can conduct interpretivist research into foreign policy. In conclusion, we spell out how the contributors conducted their work to advance the interpretivist research programme.
The Routledge Handbook of Chinese and Eurasian International Relations explores China’s relations with the Eurasian continent’s regions and countries in a multipolar era, providing an equal and balanced platform for scholars and practitioners from East, West, North, and South. This diversity enriches the contribution, giving it a dynamic ability to examine sources in different languages and cover a vast geography.
Divided into ten parts, this handbook analyses the major powers in a Multipolar World Order; China’s political and economic interests in post-Soviet Eurasia, Middle East, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Arctic; and China's relations with the US, Russia, Eurasian Economic Union, NATO and other players. International technology and environmental experts consider the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative, along with other international economic and transport corridors, and examine China’s multilateral relations and Digital Silk Road and e-governance roles. The Routledge Handbook of Chinese and Eurasian International Relations also contains official documents detailing the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and several European and Asian states, making it an authoritative source on diplomatic affairs.
This groundbreaking book will be of interest to policymakers, businessmen, scholars, and students of international relations, area studies, cybersecurity and digitalization, economics and the politics of international trade, security studies, foreign policy, global governance, international organizations, and environmental studies.
Through a content analysis on Chinese online dissidents' social media discourses, this study examines the impact of Internet censorship on Chinese dissidents' political discourse in two social media platforms: Weibo and Twitter. Data was collected during a time period when China's Internet censorship was tightened. Results revealed that Chinese online dissidents are more likely to post critical opinions and direct criticism towards the Chinese government on Twitter. In addition, dissidents on Twitter are more likely to engage in discussing with others, while Weibo dissidents tend to adopt linguistic skills more often to bypass censorship. No difference was found in terms of dissidents' civility and rationality across the two platforms. Implications and future research are discussed in detail.
This thesis analyses three Central European countries – Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary - and their relations with Israel. I chose these three Central European countries because they share the same geopolitical space and historical experience. These three Central European countries and Israel are geographically distant, face different geopolitical threats, and have only a few policy issues in common. Nonetheless, ‘the question of Israel’ has been very much present in the foreign policies of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Building on constructivism and IR scholarship that engages with memory studies, this thesis explores the process of national identity re-formation and its impact on the formulation of national interest. Specifically, it focuses on: a) past legacies, institutionalized in collective memory and expressed in narratives, which linger over and constrain policy choices; b) the role of decision-makers with a special focus on their role in national identity re-formation in times when a policy is in transition and when a new regime must establish its legitimacy. I look at the historical roots of the relations of the three Central European countries with Israel. I do so by analysing the role of the Jewish question in the nation-building process of Polish, Czech, and Hungarian nations. Further, I argue that as the three former Communist countries started to re-define their relations with Israel, the legacy of the Jewish question has had a significant impact on the formulation of their foreign policies towards the Jewish state.
State security policy is not created in a vacuum. In general, policy‑making is affected by external and internal variables and influences on the security environment as well as by responses to all these factors. Political decision‑making is another significant intervening variable. The aim of this study is to define the security environment of the Visegrad countries in both its narrow and broader senses. To this end, I consider common factors that have affected - and continue to influence - all four countries in order to reveal and evaluate the policy development processes in these states up to the present day. My methodology relies on case studies that trace the security policies of each of the Visegrad countries since the end of the bipolar standoff. The comparison in my conclusion highlights significant challenges now affecting the security policies of all these countries including defence budgets, the crisis in Ukraine, the position of EU member states and growing nationalism and extremism.
What drives European foreign policy towards the wider Mediterranean and Middle East region? This collection takes an innovative approach to answering this question, by considering the impact of intra-European divisions on European polices towards this crucial region. European foreign policy has traditionally been defined by a clear division of labour: Southern European member states take the lead in the EU's southern neighbourhood, while central and northern European countries drive policies in the EU's eastern neighbourhood. The resulting north-south split has entrenched geo-clientalistic behaviour as a core principle of EU foreign policy-making and has fuelled a static intra-European competition over influence and resources. However, as European power dynamics shift, these old divisions no longer hold and northern and central European countries have been pushed towards a more pro-active role in the region. But what factors are shaping the foreign policies of these countries in the Mediterranean and Middle East? What has been their contribution to common EU polices? And does their growing activism signal an end to old geo-clientalistic division as a core driver of European foreign policy?
central issue of the book: do ideas have an impact on political outcomes, and if so, under what conditions? focus: ideas ---> effects/policy
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from the bloc-to-bloc arrangement of European security to a pluralist one, which implies also the requirement of the military bloc's dissolution. . . . every nation, including germany, has the right to choose its destiny independently
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České republiky 1993-2004. Úspěchy, problémy a perspektivy, ed. Pick Otto, Vladimír Handl, et al. (Praha:
Ústav mezinárodních vztahů, 2004), 211-25.
Blízký východ, Středomoří a afghánistán v české zahraniční politice
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Jaroslav Bureš, "Blízký východ, Středomoří a afghánistán v české zahraniční politice," in Česká
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vztahů, 2008), 240-69.
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Politický kontext a tvorba české zahraniční politiky v roce 2008
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vztahů, 2009), 13-40;