One Shield, Two Responses: Anti‐U.S. Missile Defense Shield Protests in the Czech Republic and Poland

In: Politics & policy, Band 43, Heft 2, S. 197-214

Abstract

What is the role of civil society in geopolitical conflict? The crisis in Ukraine has, once again, raised questions over security in the post‐communist world. This article examines the puzzling variation in the antimissile defense shield protests in the Czech Republic and Poland (2007‐09) to elucidate the conditions under which civil society emerges as a significant actor in international politics. Activists in the Czech Republic staged seven times as many antishield protests as their Polish counterparts despite the two countries' similar levels of popular opposition to the project. The variation in the responses of the Polish and Czech activists resulted from the different material and legacy‐driven ideological constraints faced by the civil society organizations. The findings suggest that the scholarship on contentious civic activism should take organization‐level opportunities and constraints seriously when analyzing the impact of civil society on political processes.Related Articles

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