Czech Republic and Military Operations Abroad: Formation of Political Consensus 1999–2009

Abstract

Czech Republic started deploying its soldiers abroad shortly after the fall of
communism. However, there are still questions which need to be answered:
What were the main motives for sending out these operations? Did they
change in time? How strong is the political consensus in this matter? These
questions are answered by conducting a content analysis of political
debates in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament from 1999 to
2009. Based on theoretically founded analytical categories, the article
conducts a quantitative survey of the discourse, which is then interpreted in
relation to key variables (e.g. the positions of supporters and opponents of
the missions, types of operations). The resulting findings reveal the motives
which helped legitimize the decisions on deployments during the period
under review and demonstrate the tensions which threaten to undermine
the existing political consensus.