National Repository of Grey Literature 372 records found  1 - 10nextend  jump to record: Search took 0.00 seconds. 
European Union and FRONTEX: A Civil-Security Relations Analysis
Netopil, Petr ; Kučera, Tomáš (advisor) ; Karásek, Tomáš (referee)
This research focuses on the Civil-Security Relations between the EU and its border agency, FRONTEX. Relationships between the state and its border guards vary wildly in space and time in terms of the level of militarization, which is why this thesis set out to define the situation of the EU's first uniformed and armed service. A single case study was used, as FRONTEX as a transnational border agency is a deviant case. This research creates a typology of security services within the state and then places FRONTEX within it. In the discussion that follows, the relationship between the EU and FRONTEX seems to be matched best by the relationship between a state and its gendarmerie, though the police force is also very close. Furthermore, there are exceptions where the agency behaves more like an army or a civilian service. In terms of real-world analogues, it tracks most closely with the relationships between Latvia, Finland, and their respective border guards.
Strategic Narratives in Sino-European Relations
Webrová, Nina ; Karmazin, Aleš (advisor) ; Karásek, Tomáš (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to analyse the presentation of strategic narratives by various European Union (EU) institutions towards the People's Republic of China (PRC), with a particular focus on developments between 2012 and 2022. The core of the research was an analysis of EU strategy and foreign policy documents on China. The aim is not only to identify different EU strategic narratives towards the PRC, but also to analyse how these narratives envisage EU-China strategic engagement, how they evolve over time, how they differ across institutions, and what the dynamics of different narratives within EU institutions are. The first part of the thesis provides the context of current Chinese and European narratives and explains the theoretical and methodological framework used. The second (main) part of the thesis is an analysis of EU policy communications on China. The key finding is that there are inconsistencies and sometimes even contradictions between the narratives used by different EU institutions, and that there is no single vision for EU-China strategic engagement. The evolution of each narrative over time has also been very different. Such inconsistency hampers the EU's efforts to present a coherent strategic approach vis-à-vis China. This, in turn, can arguably weaken the EU's ability to...
Causes of Civil Wars: The Influence of Natural Resurces Extractive Technologies on the Probability of Civil War Outbreak
Klosek, Kamil ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
This study aimed to provide more general knowledge about the mechanisms which link natural resources with civil war outbreaks. The theoretical point of departure was the feasibility hypothesis hypothesis of Collier et al. (2009) in which the authors state that the paramount interest of researchers of civil wars should be directed at the structural conditions within a country. One of their assertions pertained to the role of natural resources. Those provide a potential revenue source for insurgents to finance their rebellion. Hence, the higher the dependence of a state on natural resource exports, the higher should be the probability of civil war outbreak. However, this account was heavily criticized by other researchers. Some claimed that the conceptualization of the Primary Commodity Exports (PCE) variable does not cover relevant natural resources (Fearon 2005), others pointed at the problem of reversed causality and endogeneity (Gleditsch 1998) and also others stressed to differentiate between different natural resources according to their proneness to be looted by rebels (Ross 2003). In order to address these problems, a new variable was conceptualized. The "extraction feasibility" variable measures the degree of extractability of a particular resource. It is composed of two notions, namely...
Asymmetric conflicts 1989-2001 in quantitative analysis
Kasperová Bubrlová, Markéta ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
Asymmetric Conflicts from 1989 - 2001 in quantitative analysis Abstract Following paper discuses two significant concepts in the area of asymmetric warfare. Both are dealing with the phenomenon of weak actors winning in armed conflicts. Ivan Arreguín-Toft is discussing the role of strategic asymmetry and concludes that the strategy actors choose is directly influencing the result of the conflict. Andrew Mack is dealing with the interest asymmetry, saying that strong actors tend to lose because their interest to win is usually weaker than that of their small opponents. In the same time strong actors are politically more vulnerable based on the level of democracy. Both theories are tested by quantitative analysis of all asymmetric conflicts that took place between 1989 and 2000. Values related to strategies, results, strength of the actors, interest and level of democracy are assigned to all conflicts based on information provided in conflict and other databases.
The Influence of Ownership Structures on Socio-Ecological Conflicts in the Peruvian Mining Sector
Nentwig, Stefan Jan Benedikt ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
I The analysis of ownership structures as aspect in the relationship of natural resources and intrastate conflicts is a relatively new field of study. This thesis contributes to this debate, by analyzing the case of Peru with its specific socio-environmental conflicts. Based on comprehensive literature, a logistic regression model will be applied in order to account for the specific effects of different patterns of ownership. With the distinction between local and national private actors, a new approach is offered. The results suggest that local ownership significantly decreases the likelihood of civil conflict, while foreign ownership increases it. However both statistical evidence and the conducted case study of the La Bambas mine suggest, that the relationship is more complex than originally expected.
The human rights discourse in Japan and Japanese foreign policy
Zícha, Lukáš ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
This diploma thesis attempts to provide an analysis of the human rights discourse in Japan and Japanese foreign policy. The author analyses the most important current issues (falling under the category of first-generation human rights) including: Korean minority issue, discrimination against persons of burakumin origin, gender issue and the topic of comfort women. In the second part of the thesis, the author explores the human rights discourse in the foreign policy of Japan. With the help of his research conducted in 2013 in Tokyo among diplomats, academics and NGO representatives, he examines three possible approaches to explain the current state of affairs: a national interests approach, a constructivist approach (cultural conditionality) and a policy-making approach (taking into account the role of intrastate actors).
A multidisciplinary perspective on Strategic Autonomy of the European Union: interconnections between NATO and the development of the Permanent Structured Cooperation
Daval, Lola ; Alì, Antonino (advisor) ; Karásek, Tomáš (referee)
The lack of cohesion in the understanding of Strategic Autonomy of the European Union makes it difficult to implement any policy that is meant to develop it. With the repeated fidelity of the EU to NATO in defence and security, and the repeated will of the EU to increase strategic autonomy, the research aims at understanding how both of these dynamics interact in practice. This research is not only about implementing strategic autonomy in the EU, it is mostly about looking at the interconnections between NATO and the EU in the implementation of strategic autonomy. By studying a case of implementation of strategic autonomy, it explores the opportunities and shortcomings of strategic autonomy in practice. PESCO entails military capabilities, intergovernmental logic, and differentiated cooperation within the EU which is a highpoint for this domain in the EU. The research focuses on two categories of interconnections : the legal interconnections that are set by EU Law and the member states in their own commitments to NATO, and the interconnections of PESCO with NATO as an organization on which the EU's defence is dependant. A legal analysis revealed a layered structure in the defence and security policies in the European Union which leave PESCO to be stuck between those layers : the goals set by the EU...
Between Motivation and Reality: Projecting Power in the Name of Regional Security? - Comparing EU-Moldovan and Chinese-Philippine relations
Weltin, Alexander Oskar Herbert ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Russo, Alessandra (referee)
Between Motivation and Reality: Projecting Power in the Name of Regional Security? - Comparing EU-Moldovan and Chinese-Philippine relations Abstract Power comes in many shapes and forms. One need only look at the plethora of interconnected conceptions of power the academic literature on politics and international relations has produced over the last century and beyond to convince oneself of this fact. Michael Barnett and Raymond Duvall's (2005) 'taxonomy of power' captures this interconnectedness like no other approach. They distinguish between two 'kinds' of social relations - interactions between actors and relations of social constitution - through which power works as well as two degrees of 'specificity' - direct and diffuse - of which such relations can be. However, such approaches are few and far between, as the pertinent theoretical and empirical literature seldomly considers these concepts in concert. The purpose of this piece, therefore, is to illustrate the interconnectedness of different conceptions of power through the cases of EU-Moldovan and Chinese-Philippine relations. Barnett and Duvall's taxonomy serves as the theoretical framework. This piece's first finding is somewhat surprising. The EU's and China's power broadly work in the same way. Both the EU and China project power towards Moldova...
Securitised Development and State Authoritarianism in Pakistan: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
Ullah, Zafar ; Schottli, Jivanta (advisor) ; Karásek, Tomáš (referee)
Since the signing of the US$ 62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2015, Pakistani state officials and mainstream media have presented it as a 'game-changer' project for the country's socio-economic development, especially for the people of Pakistan's southwestern province, Balochistan, and the port city of Gwadar. Besides presenting CPEC as a revolutionary development project, the Pakistani state stamped out local opposition and their concerns regarding the project, especially from peripheral geographies like Gwadar, while linking them with 'international conspiracies' against the project. The presentation of CPEC as a revolutionary project and calling out dissidents as 'anti-state' elements in 'speech acts' of the state officials as well as in the mainstream media led to the securitisation of the project. Consequently, the indigenous people of Gwadar, who have reservations against the project, experienced a dramatic increase in the 'militarisation' of their city along with the 'dispossession' of their homes and livelihoods. While the existing academic scholarship, particularly in Pakistan, explores megaprojects and their securitisation, it remains short of investigating the role of official discourses of mega projects in their securitisation. Therefore, this dissertation will...

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