Between NATO and a hard place: defence spending debate in Germany and Czechia

Abstract

Defence spending has become a primary issue in the context of NATO. This article compares the behaviour of Germany and Czechia, two very similar countries that differ in size. Building on the small states literature, it asks how the size factor translates into the domestic debates and decisions. Based on expert and political debates it shows that while the German debate is much more detailed and informed that Czech debate, the result of both is very similar. Both countries behave as small states in the area of defence spending. The result supports the theoretical view that size is an inherently relative concept in international relations and offers several new paths for future research.

Institutional Inertia and Change: Explaining the Czech and Portuguese Engagement in European Defence Market Integration

“…The Czech defence budget dropped to just 0.94% of its GDP in 2014, and despite continuously rising since the Russian annexation of Crimea, it was still far from NATO's 2% commitment in 2021 (NATO, 2021; cf. Weiss, 2019). Additionally, the state was unable and unwilling to engage in major government‐to‐government (G2G) negotiations on behalf of the domestic companies, lacking a clear institutional structure to do so.…”