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

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    • Subject Terms:
      UNITED States. Missile Defense Agency; PUBLIC demonstrations; GEOPOLITICS; CIVIL society; INTERNATIONAL relations; NATIONAL security
    • Subject Terms:
      CZECH Republic; POLAND
    • 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 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    • Abstract:
      ¿Cuál es el papel de la sociedad civil en los conflictos geopolíticos? Una vez más, la crisis en Ucrania ha planteado preguntas sobre la seguridad en el mundo postcomunista. Este artículo investiga el cambio inesperado en las protestas del escudo de defensa antimisiles en la República Checa y Polonia (2007-2009) para establecer las condiciones en las cuales la sociedad civil surge como un actor significativo en la política internacional. Los activistas en la República Checa organizaron siete veces más protestas en contra del escudo que sus contrapartes en Polonia, a pesar que ambos países mostraban niveles similares de oposición al proyecto. Su muestra que la variación en respuesta al proyecto de activistas checos y polacos son el resultado de diferentes restricciones materiales e ideológicas enfrentadas por las organizaciones de la sociedad civil. Estos resultados sugieren que las investigaciones en activismo cívico deben de tomar en cuenta seriamente oportunidades y restricciones a nivel organización cuando se analice el impacto de la sociedad civil en el proceso político. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    • Abstract:
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