Negotiating Neutrality

Abstract

This study applies a two-level game model to analyze the dramatic redirection of Austrian foreign policy in the post-Cold War era. Austria's official entry into the European Union on January 1, 1995, marked an important transition in its foreign and security policy from forty years of `permanent neutrality' to a new relationship with European partners. Membership had especially significant implications for Austria in light of the Title V agreements of the Maastricht Treaty that called for a Common Foreign and Security Policy. This article explores how Austrian leaders successfully implemented a sophisticated strategy of double-edged diplomacy to convince a majority of the electorate to support membership in the European Union and fundamental constitutional changes in a 1994 referendum. Finally, the article draws conclusions about the significance of domestic political constraints for foreign policy redirection and the implications of the Austrian case for the future of neutrality.