East and Central European Countries and the Iraq War: The choice between “soft balancing” and “soft bandwagoning”

Abstract

This study argues that the new concept of “soft balancing” adds to our ability to explain the decisions of East and Central European countries to support the US in the Iraq War. Moreover, it suggests that by emphasizing soft rather than hard bandwagoning we gain a more subtle understanding of the degrees of support that countries offered the US. This approach reminds us that we should not only emphasize the similarities between the foreign policies of these countries but also their differences.