After the end of the Cold War vigorous discussions developed about new alternatives in security policy in almost all the countries of the former Warsaw Pact and in neutral and non-aligned states, including Austria and Hungary. The comparison of the debates in Austria and Hungary over the last 50 years, focusing on presidential speeches on the one hand, on opinion polls on the other (among many other data sources), shed light on the identity policy aspect of these discourses. The argumentation strategies used by the supporters and by the opponents of different security policies were analysed, illustrating the fact that in Austria neutrality is still perceived as integral part of national identity, whereas in Hungary, joining NATO is viewed as a possibility of finally ‘belonging’ to the West.