MOTIVES FOR PARTICIPATION IN UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS: THE CASE OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

This article analyses participation by the Czech Republic in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations. It aims to answer the question of how and why the Czech Republic participates in UN peacekeeping. Does it do so because of a commitment to the values of the international community, or rather because its own interests are at stake? Using the theoretical notions of the logic of appropriateness and the logic of consequences and the mutual relationship between them the article attempts to strengthen the theoretical underpinnings of UN peacekeeping, which are overwhelmingly thought to be unsatisfactory at present. The analysis presented reveals that the Czech Republic's participation in UN peacekeeping operations follows from the logic of consequences rather than the logic of appropriateness; the latter is present to a certain extent, but appears to be secondary at best.