Bottom-up Perspectives on National Resilience: evidence from Eastern Europe amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

Security literature typically addresses national resilience by focusing on governmental policies to prevent foreign aggression or defend the country, in case of external aggression. Society, instead, receives scholarly attention as an object of governmental action. This panel takes instead a bottom-up perspective on national resilience, where society is both an agent and a factor of national resilience. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from Romania, Lithuania, Ukraine and Germany, this panel illuminates some of the less studied aspects of (civil) society contribution - as well as its limitations - to national resilience. Specifically, two papers use the case of Ukraine to unpack the repertoires and tools of domestic social movements, aimed at defending their country against direct aggression. The other two papers, using the case of Romania and Lithuania, address the impact and measurement of societal factors for national resilience as preparedness for a security crisis. Finally, using the case of Germany, the last paper provides a unique outlook into the mobilisation and impact of a mix of Ukrainian diaspora organisations and German grass-roots initiatives and NGOs, indicating how civic actors contribute to national resilience from abroad.

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