| Abstract [eng] |
The thesis focuses on analysing the relationship between geopolitical events and the sensitivity level of small countries through the perspective of defence spending and imports. In light of changing political climate and the return of conventional warfare to the neighbourhood of Europe, countries around the world reshape their security priorities. The existing literature in the field of study has a focus on the major players, leaving small countries underlooked. This study aims to explore the difference in behaviour between small and big CEE countries towards Russia’s aggression in Western Eurasia. Various scholars argue that small countries are more exposed to external threats, however, there is a significant gap in literature that analyses the defence behaviour of small countries in response to external threats. Five hypotheses are being proposed to explore the relationship between the reactions of small and big CEE countries through defence spending and imports in relation to the militant behaviour of the Russian Federation. In order to test the hypothesis, the descriptive analysis of the data of ten CEE countries regarding military expenditure over a period of twenty two years is performed. An econometric analysis is performed to test the hypothesis regarding the relationship between import levels of defence products of small and big CEE countries. Countries with missing data were eliminated from the econometric testing. Findings of both analyses vary for different periods of times and therefore the hypothesis can neither be fully approved nor rejected. This indicates the changing nature in national priorities and threat perception, the importance of the severity and proximity of the conflict. Therefore, any findings should be interpreted with nuance. A general trend shows that small countries, in response to Russia’s aggressive behaviour in the region, react by importing more defence products than large countries, with the exception of Slovakia which holds a strong domestic defence industry. Furthermore, regarding military spending, small countries showed overall greater increases in military burden than large countries. Moreover, countries which share a border with Russia showed a greater increase in military burden than the countries which do not. Thesis starts with the introduction, secondly a theoretical approach regarding concepts of small states, defence industry and military spending is provided, followed by an empirical method where hypotheses are proposed and tested. Lastly, conclusions, limitations and recommendations for further research are given. |
