Small enough to fail: the structural irrelevance of the small state as cause of its elimination and proliferation since Westphalia

2019

European Security

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.

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2019

European Security

“…This is in line with the theoretical expectation of the impact of the supranational institutions, which have the potential to dampen the impact of the changing balance of power in the Council in areas where they play a substantial role. This expectation is further augmented by the fact that security policy, of which the CSDP is a part, is a particularly sensitive area for small states (Wivel et al 2014, Maass 2016. This paper aims to test this expectation on a single case study of the Czech Republic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Small states are generally considered irrelevant by IR scholars because they cannot influence the international system (Maass 2016). That is why rule-based systems, such as the EU, help smaller countries thrive (cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A small state’s anticipation of institutional change: effects of the looming Brexit in the areas of the CSDP and internal market

2019

European Security

Small state's anticipation of institutional change: Effects of the looming Brexit in the area of the CSDP and internal marketBrexit will change the balance of power in the European Union. All countries will have to adjust it, but the issue is more pressing for small member states that are more dependent on international organisations than big states. This article studies how the institutional setting affects a small state's preparations for Brexit in the area of common security and defence policy and internal market. Contrary to the theoretical expectations, it shows that the Czech Republic, the small state under scrutiny, has invested more effort into a preventive adjustment in the supranational internal market policy than to the CSDP. This result is explained by the existence of alternative institutional frameworks that are expected to mitigate the impact of Brexit on EU's security and defence policy. It also suggests that while small states profit from the existence of strong institutions, they also face the risk of unmitigated impact when these institutions change.

“…This article takes a different path and focuses on an instance of the arguably more common situation (Maass, 2016) in which the small state’s government fails to shape the policy internationally and faces a backlash at home. It shows how the Czech debate on GDPR prioritised the resulting bureaucratic burden and costs, rather than the need for privacy as an integral part of human dignity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Czech backlash against the GDPR: A small state’s mismatch between domestic and international priorities

Kadlecová

2020

New Perspectives

This article is an exploratory study of the Czech response to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It employs the perspective of the small state literature to analyse the activities of a small European Union (EU) member state’s government that had to face a mismatch between its policy priorities and policy framing at the EU and domestic level. The article focuses on the arguably common situation of a small state’s government failing to shape a policy internationally and facing a backlash at home. On the basis of a qualitative study of primary and secondary sources as well as semi-structured interviews, the article explores how the Czech debate on GDPR prioritised the bureaucratic burden and costs resulting from the GDPR implementation over the need for privacy as an integral part of human dignity highlighted at the EU level. The article identifies two crucial factors as the basis of the popular backlash against GDPR in Czechia, the lack of prioritisation and the insufficient bureaucratic capacity. These two factors, widely identified in the literature as factors influencing small states’ performance, contributed to the Czech inability to shape GDPR at the European level, as well as the lacking information campaign and implementation domestically.