The Czech Republic before the New Millennium: Politics, Parties and Gender by Steven s> Saxonberg (review)

Abstract

354 SEER, 83, 2, 2005 has excellent contacts in the establishmentsof these states, excellent language skills,and an abilityto search out telling documents. The materialgatheredis outstanding in this sub-field of NATO enlargement studies, where far too often assertionmasqueradesas reasoned argument. The conclusion that Barany reaches, perhaps unsurprisingly, is that in terms of NATO's own criteria,these stateswere unready to take steps on the road to membership. He takesthe next logical step, in suggestingthat NATO is takingsignificantrisksin terms of its own efficiencyand operationalization in admitting states that are unready, and that are consumers rather than contributors to security. The case is that much stronger for focusing on the largerfour in the latest round of enlargement, ratherthan the smaller,Baltic Republics. Barany also makes the case that the four states that he examines are the 'leaststudied'. In thinkingin termsof concepts of 'consumer'of security,Baranyusessome of the language of those opposed to any NATO enlargement prior to 1997. Indeed, as he was one of those opposed, this is quite natural. Barany was concerned that NATO's enlargement would provoke Russia, for little real contribution to NATO in return.Later,Baranytook a differentargumenton the issue, and now that the former concern (with Russian reaction) is much lower, he is still reasonably concerned with the latter. But he is careful and measured in his deployment of the argument. A lack of readiness is not a reason to prevent enlargement;rather,it is an importantaspect in the timing of it. With recourse to a variety of data, Barany demonstrates how, of the group, Slovenia is the most ready, Romania the least. Is this the last shot in the last war, or the firstin the next? Barany skilfully makesit both. He demonstratesthat all the care and precisionof developing a process of enlargement so obsessively at the heart of EU enlargement can be swept aside by political fiat. This was the case with this latest round of enlargement:a view that inclusionwas most importantcame to dominate the Bush Administration, and a large scale enlargement decision followed. But Barany is also surely rightly -convinced that NATO enlargement will continue, and he has an eye to that. Many statescould be candidatesover the next few years Croatia, for example and into the longer term:Albania, Macedonia, Ukraine, even Georgia. In the next enlargement decision, NATO's political leadership will do well to follow a more careful and differentiated process, Barany would argue: and in that, Barany would undoubtedly enjoy great support amongst policy-makers at NATO's headquartersin Brussels. Department ofPoliticalScience andInternational Studies STUART CROFT University ofBirmingham Saxonberg, Steven. TheCzech Republic Before theNewMillennium. Politics,Parties and Gender. East European Monographs, 637. East European Monographs , Boulder, CO, 2003. xii + 259 pp. Tables. Figures.Notes. Index. ?33.00? THE CZECH REPUBLIC BEFORE THE NEW MILLENNIUM brings together a number of the author'spapersand articleson Czech politics duringthe I99os. REVIEWS 355 The firstpart of the book deals with Czech party politics between I989 and 200I, specifically addressing the nature of the Czech party system and of Vaclav Klaus as a charismaticleader. Saxonberg'sanalysisis a slightlyhit and miss affair.The unusual characterof Czech party competition, which centres on socio-economic issues, rather than the cultural and moral cleavages dominant elsewhere in the region, has been convincingly explained by Kitschelt and his collaboratorswithout reference to the rather stereotypical notion of Czechs being more 'Western'.As a 'historic',ratherthan Communist successorparty, the Czech Social Democrats are undoubtedlydistinctamong centre-left parties in the region, but are not unusual in mixing technocracy, etatism and populism. Social conservatism may indeed be largely absent on the Czech Right, but the hard-line Czech Communists are 'conservative' mainly in their opposition to post-I989 economic reform. Despite their traditionalanti-Germannationalismand sociallyconservativeelderlyelectorate , Communist deputies have, for example, happily co-sponsored bills in the Czech parliament to legalize same-sex partnerships,indicating the essentially non-partisan character of moral issues in Czech politics. On the right, the failure of the Klaus governments to implement full-blooded free market reformwhen in officehas alreadybeen widely writtenabout, as have the 'leftwing ' beliefs of many right-wingCzech voters. Equally, the claim that Czech politics is rivenwith personalanimositiesis undoubtedlytrue,but tellsuslittle, as the same could be...