Evolving neutrality: strategic narratives and security discourse in Austria and Ireland after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

This master’s thesis examines how political elites in Austria and Ireland redefined neutrality after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The research question asks how the invasion shaped neutrality discourse in both states after 2022, and why their discursive responses differed. The thesis uses a constructivist framework and treats neutrality not only as a legal or policy status, but also as a socially constructed identity shaped by historical narratives, norms, and strategic culture. Strategic Narratives Theory provides the broader analytical framework, while framing theory is used to analyse how neutrality is justified and linked to European security cooperation. The study applies a qualitative comparative case study design. The empirical focus is on the period from February 2022 to December 2024, with a brief pre-2022 baseline. The corpus consists of 50 Austrian and 49 Irish elite-produced texts, including parliamentary debates, executive statements, speeches, and policy documents. The analysis shows that neutrality was preserved in both cases but reinterpreted differently. In Austria, neutrality was mainly framed through sovereignty, national room for manoeuvre, military non-alignment, and compatibility with selected European security cooperation. In Ireland, neutrality was defended more through peace tradition, humanitarian identity, restraint, public legitimacy, and caution toward deeper military integration. The thesis argues that these differences reflect the historically rooted meanings of neutrality in each state. Austria adapted neutrality in more flexible and sovereignty-based terms, while Ireland preserved it through caution, public consent, and stronger boundary protection.