When former Austrian Foreign Minister Erwin Lenc told him during an interview that neutrality would protect his country because of international law, PhD student Andrew Harrod could only respond with amazement at his article of faith. Harrod’s dissertation on the implications of long-term state neutrality focusing on Austria does not agree with Lenc’s optimistic views regarding Austrian neutrality: one of the reasons Harrod wanted to speak with him.
“Interviews are the last step. You read as much as you can and present some questions to them [interviewees] to address something that is odd or an open point, things they may not have thought of before, further testing the individuals in their views,” Harrod said.
Harrod spent three months in Vienna, Austria interviewing former ministers, security officials, think-tank intellectuals and academics in an attempt to gather a wide range of viewpoints. Harrod acknowledges that the Fletcher name was probably instrumental in the warm response he received to his interview requests. For him, it was exciting to hear former Austrian officials voicing the same conclusions he had come to regarding the impact of Austria’s neutrality on its security.
He recalls the interview with Austrian scholar Erich Reiter, who used to work for Austria’s Department of Defense, in which he asserted that if Austria had been invaded during the Cold War period, the military was in such as state that the country would have folded before even issuing any military orders.
In addition to looking at Austrian neutrality from a historical perspective, Harrod’s research focuses on how it impacts Austria’s future with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Harrod wanted to do his PhD on a topic that had not only been explored very little, but also allowed him to pursue his interest in security studies and utilize his proficiency in German.
“You look around for a topic that people haven’t done before. Austrian neutrality, to the extent it has been considered, has not been evaluated from a foreign perspective. Neutrality within Austria is celebrated,” Harrod said.
Besides pointing out the pros and cons of Austria’s neutral policy, the dissertation will also present a novel assessment on the costs and benefits of adopting a policy of neutrality and defining conditions under which it can exist today. Harrod describes the dissertation process as climbing to the top of a mountain where you then have a clear view of everything and can see new ideas.
For the past three years, Harrod has been climbing this mountain, following a “paper trail” through the Library of Vienna, Library of Congress, and libraries at University of Virginia, Georgetown and Harvard. Harrod has read nearly everything on the subject, most of which is from Austria and in German. Harrod has also conducted most of his interviews in German, a language he has been studying since college.
Harrod found that the “closer you get to the original research the more fun it is.” At the National Archives, he found an original diplomatic dispatch from a military attaché in Vienna, warning the government about bazookas not conforming to the State Treaty which, as a part of Austria’s neutrality agreement, prohibited it from acquiring propelled weapons such as missiles. The attaché was concerned that the U.S. supplied bazookas could be classified as a propelled weapon but in the end decided that it was best to just not bring it up.
The excitement of discovering new information, among other things has made the process rewarding and, at the same time, all-consuming for Harrod.
“If you read day after day, to some extent that is all you think about: what else must you analyze, new thoughts will come to you. It sort of becomes your companion, a spirit that never leaves you and the other events in the worlds fade.”
Harrod, who plans to go into academia or work for a think-tank, knows that doing an individual project and attaining complete expertise in a subject matter will be invaluable to him. On the last leg of his journey, Harrod will be spending the next four months writing his dissertation.
