The Czech Republic in the World: Conflicting Loyalties, Organizational Memberships, and Changed National Images

Abstract

Czech foreign policy in the post-Cold War period bears three significant imprints. First, a country that had been torn by conflicting loyalties solved that dilemma by firmly positioning itself in the orbit of the West. Second, NATO and the EU became the organizational anchors of that western orbit. Third, fresh images of the possibility of choice and control over history replaced past national images of submission to dependence and fate. Thus, new loyalties, organizations, and images interacted to create a different foreign policy chemistry. That chemistry could enable the Czech Republic to move from its protected Central European base to a purposeful international role in a proactive way.