Abstract
This essay concerns Czechoslovakia’s (later, Slovakia’s) and Hungary’s disagreement between 1988-2000 over a joint hydroelectric dam system on the river Danube. The conflict threatened bilateral relations and the overall stability of the East Central European region especially during the early 1990s. The case represents a major international environmental, political and legal dispute between two newly democratizing countries in the East Central European region. This paper offers a systematic framework for the analysis and interpretation of the roots, causes, strategic actors and outcomes of the conflict. The following factors leading to the conflict are analyzed: the different scenarios and pace of democratization in the two countries; the emergence and role of independent ecological movements, NGOs, and their perception of environmental threats; the lack of a regional conflict resolution mechanism; the nationalist framing and political uses of the issue by post-communist elites; the underdevelopment of civil society; the low level of transborder communication; and the dependence of scientific institutions and think tanks on the state in both countries.
This paper also offers a framework for systematic political science and international relations/ environmental security analysis and interpretation of the causes, strategic actors and outcomes of the conflict. The paper offers conclusions about 1) anti-environmentalist nationalism; 2) the role of international institutions in maintaining peace and security in East Central Europe; 3) the role of domestic political actors in framing international environmental conflicts; 4) the role of NGOs in such conflicts; 5) joint monitoring of the environment and transborder dissemination of monitoring data as integral part of conflict prevention and resolution. Finally, it offers conclusions relevant for understanding the dispute in particular and environmental security in East Central Europe in general.
The author would like to thank the United Nations University (Tokyo) and the Central European University Junior Faculty Research Grant for their suppport. I am also grateful for the comments of Andrej Skolkay (University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Trnava, Slovakia) on an early draft of this paper.
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Sükösd, M. (2001). Democratization, Nationalism and Eco-Politics: The Slovak-Hungarian Conflict Over the Gabikovo-Nagymaros Dam System on the Danube. In: Petzold-Bradley, E., Carius, A., Vincze, A. (eds) Responding to Environmental Conflicts: Implications for Theory and Practice. NATO Science Series, vol 78. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0395-7_14
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