Unpacking Hungary's and Czechia's strategic profiles amid the Russian aggression against Ukraine

Abstract

This dissertation attends to the strategic profiles of Hungary and Czechia amid the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine. The dissertation unpacks the similarities and differences of Hungary's and Czechia's strategic outlooks referring to their experience of Soviet occupation in 1956 and 1968, respectively. The author argues that different stances on the Russia-Ukraine war cannot be explored without attending to Hungary's and Czechia's strategic cultures. In this dissertation the author points out the interrelation between strategic culture and foreign policy decision-making to flag the interplay between strategic culture and strategic behaviour. The author presents a set of three hypotheses related to the correlation between the strategic culture and decision-making process, Hungary's memory of the Soviet occupation and its ramifications on the current stance on the Russia-Ukraine war as well as Czechia's memory of the Soviet occupation and its implications on the Czech strategic choices. The author outlines the main features of Hungary's and Czechia's strategic culture, their commemorative practices, and tools for framing the reactions towards the past and present security matters.