The Ukraine Crisis and the Security Strategies of European Neutral Countries

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In the study of international relations, it is considered that the interaction between the great powers contructs the international system significantly, and the small and medium- sized countries can simply choose “balancing” or “bandwagaoning” as their security strategy. However, with the development of Europe after several wars and conflicts, there are five countries choosing to be a neutral country to maintain its national interest. Among these five, this article will focus on especially Switzerland, Austria and Finland. The Ukrainian crisis in 2014 has put great influence on the relations between Europe and Russia, such as the energy supply crisis in Europe, and economic impact both in Europe and Russia. Most important of all, Russia''s annexation of Crimea has intensified the reginal security again after the Cold War. As known as neutral countries, Switzerland, Austria and Finland have drawn greatest attention worldwide because of the close ties with EU and NATO. Therefore, in this article the foreign policy of Switzerland, Austria and Finland are viewed via diplomacy level, military level, snactions level and incnetives level to analyze how these three neutral countries face and respond to the Ukraine crisis, and to find how exogenous factors and endogenous factors have an impact on the neutral foreign policy.