Authors

Discussion

Transformations of geopolitical conflicts have become a driver of the development of a security policy dimension in the European Union’s (EU) relations with the countries in its wider Eastern neighbourhood. Partner countries demand from the EU to act as a security provider in the region, while the Union is struggling to develop its defence capacities and its international role as geopolitical actor. One of the main obstacles hindering the EU to develop its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) are differing Strategic Cultures of EU Member States.  Enlargement will further diversify the landscape of attitudes towards the use of military force for political ends in the EU. Therefore, and against the backdrop of the importance of geopolitics since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of  Ukraine, diverging Strategic Cultures can become an obstacle to EU enlargement and the development of a security dimension in the EU external relations with the enlargement trio prior to accession.

Defining Strategic Culture as formal and informal institutions affecting states’ strategic behaviour, the paper analyses the Strategic Culture of all three countries of the so-called accession trio. Which ideas, values, and patterns of habitual behaviour have turned into shared formal and informal institutions affecting states’ decisions about the use of military force? By applying a blended reading approach, the paper analyses the discourse on the use of military force in official documents of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine before the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The analysis covers the Strategic Cultures of all three case studies since their independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union until the end of 2021, before Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This allows us to trace long-term developments in the countries’ Strategic Cultures. Furthermore, the paper offers new empirical evidence that will allow for further analysis of strategic behaviour of states during the ongoing transformations of geopolitical conflicts and disruptions.