| Summary/Abstract |
Austria's security architecture has changed significantly following the end of the Cold War. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the country's accession to the EU in 1995, and the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s led to a re-calibration of the Austrian understanding of foreign and security policy. As a result, Austria became more engaged in international peace-keeping operations and was interacting more with international organisations (EU, NATO-PfP). Austria became more and more engaged with EU CSDP, which de-facto undermined the country's neutrality, even if the neutrality issue keeps coming up at the level of political discourses. The public assessment of perceived threats is shifted from more traditional threat categories (e.g. crime) towards new security challenges (e.g. immigration), but in general, Austrians feel extraordinarily safe in comparison with other European nations.
|