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China's energy security and policy towards Africa
Harmašová, Natálie ; Kučerová, Irah (advisor) ; Karmazin, Aleš (referee)
The goal of the thesis was to shed light on the ways in which the People's Republic of China secures its energy security and identify the role of Chinese investments in Africa. The economic development results in increased demand for energy resources. In 1993 China became a net oil importer. Conceptualization of energy security in China consists in strengthening relations with oil-rich countries. In certain areas such as industry, transportation and military oil represents for now to that extent of use an irreplaceable source of energy. Therefore I will focus on activities of the People's Republic of China. More specifically, I will focus on investment activities of China in Sudan/South Sudan and Libya. Compared to the West, China seems to be a convenient business partner as it abides by the noninterference into another state's affairs rule. The rationale behind this principle is that every state has a right to choose its model of governance development while taking into consideration its unique conditions. Additionally, China puts emphasis on mutual benefits of South-South cooperation and does not condition investments with the request for changes in political system and banking sector of a recipient state. China chooses its partner countries based on political and stability and state of security...
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The European Union and the adoption of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Kosovo: the role of material interests and shared ideas
Procházka, Karel ; Karlas, Jan (advisor) ; Kučerová, Irah (referee)
The thesis seeks to examine the underlying motivations behind the conclusion of the Stability and Association Agreement between European Union and Kosovo on the 27th of October 2015. To determine the role of material interests and shared ideas in the process of concluding the SAA the thesis discusses and applies rationalism and constructivism, both grand theories of international relations. To test the theories and their respective hypotheses identifying the role of the relevant concepts, the research employs a single case study method, using a congruence analysis approach. In conclusion, through the rationalist lens within the perspective of the EU, the thesis confirms the existence of material interest in the conclusion of the SAA, representing security, power and economic gains. To complement the analysis via a constructivist lens within the perspective of Kosovo, the thesis solely implies a limited role of identity and norms while it points out that such constructivist concepts rather impeded the reaching of the SAA, veiling the actual role of material interest.
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Turkey and Strategic Interests of the EU - Analysis of the Migrant Crisis
Krejčová, Romana ; Kučerová, Irah (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
The EU-Turkey relations have been complicated for over fifty years, namely since the Ankara Agreement. The civil war in Syria broke out in 2011 and since then Turkey has been struggling with the rise of migrants. The migration crisis affected the EU in 2015. Therefore, the cooperation between the EU and Turkey to solve migration crisis was necessary. This diploma thesis engages in communication and negotiation between the EU and Turkey about a common action to solve the migration crisis. Karl Deutsch's communication theory was chosen as the theoretical framework. We can namely observe the concept of feedback during the negotiations of joint Action Plan and joint statement to tackle irregular migration. First is explained the history and development of the EU-Turkey relations. The history of the EU-Turkey relations is explained since Turkey applied for association to the European Economic Community. The EU-Turkey relations are affected by bad relations between Turkey and some EU member states. Currently, the EU-Turkey relations are more complicated because of the purges and human rights abuse after the unsuccessful coup attempt in 2016. Turkey has got stronger position in negotiations of cooperation. Turkey has grasped the chances of the migration crisis to revive some policy processes - as visa...
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Turkey's Rise as a Regional Power
Ledbová, Zuzana ; Kučerová, Irah (advisor) ; Daniel, Jan (referee)
The diploma thesis deals with the rise of Turkey as a regional power in the Middle East since the end of the Cold War until the present. The aim of the thesis is to analyze the country's position in the region during the period 1990-2017 and to examine factors that contributed to the growth of Turkey's power. The thoretical framework discusses important concepts and different approaches within the international relations literature to the analysis of regional powers and subsequently defines criteria for assessing whether to consider Turkey as a Middle Eastern power. The study follows chronological evolution of Turkey and its foreign policy, examining the country's material capacities as well as strategies and instruments used by Turkish governments to promote Turkey's influence at the regional level. In view of the growing power potential, ambitions and engagement in the region, the thesis has come to the conclusion that Turkey has achieved the status of one of the regional powers of the Middle East during the 1990s. The end of the bipolar international system was a factor that allowed Turkey to act more independently in the new global order. Subsequently, thanks to Turkey's economic growth, the Turkish leadership could increase the volume of funds spent on active foreign policy and thus strengthen...
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European Union as a State-Building Power
Zdrálek, Jan ; Ditrych, Ondřej (advisor) ; Kučerová, Irah (referee)
This thesis concentrates on the role of the European Union as a state-building power. It scrutinizes EU foreign policy in terms of state-building phenomena in three selected areas: Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership, and Southern Neighbourhood. First, it presents the EU as an increasingly powerful international actor and a normative power. Then, it overviews the existing literature on state-building with a special focus on Francis Fukuyama's neoliberal approach and David Chandler's critical remarks. The thesis is methodologically grounded in the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), specifically the four-value fuzzy set QCA, which enables to bridge the quantitative and qualitative approaches. The analysis operates with 23 cases (countries) and five variables in order to assess the EU state-building practices in relation to the targeted states' resilience. Drawing on the moderate generalizations from QCA results, the thesis concludes that the EU is, indeed, a state-building power which strengthens the resilience of states through its state-building practices.
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World maritime shipping at the beginning of 21. Century
Bubnová, Kateřina ; Romancov, Michael (advisor) ; Kučerová, Irah (referee)
The bachelor thesis deals with the world's maritime trade at the beginning of the 21st century. This thesis deals with the development during the 19th and 20th centuries from the point of view of progress, which influenced the modernization and progress in this area, the 20th and 21st century from the economic point of view, how the volume of goods transported changed. Segmenting cargo vessels is another important chapter, splitting into groups and subgroups, allows a better view of types of merchant ships. It also examines international organizations that are very important for determining and adhering to the rules. The chapter on Maritime Policy deals with environmental policy, balancing the goals of sustainable development and economic objectives of countries. The second part of the chapter deals with the issue of maritime piracy, which greatly hinders maritime trade. It focuses more on Somali piracy, although it is not currently the main danger area, so it has its own specifics. The last part deals with the most important ports as the basic components of maritime trade. Navy trails are linked to the New Silk Road, a project of the People's Republic of China, which could change the sea routes, considering new ports.
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Selected Geopolitical Aspects of the EU's Energy Security
Lang, Petr ; Romancov, Michael (advisor) ; Landovský, Jakub (referee) ; Kučerová, Irah (referee)
This thesis deals with the geopolitical aspects resulting from the increasing EU dependence on natural gas imports from the external suppliers. In addition to the investigation into he current situation of the EU market with natural gas, nature of major suppliers is explored, the thesis tries to identify the main risks to the security of supplies, especially the possibility of politically motivated supply disruption. From a broader perspective, it scrutinizes whether the natural gas market is driven by the market-based principles and regulated by international organizations (Market and Institutions scenario) or the bilateral relations between producer and consumer are the decisive factor (Regions and Empires scenario). Furthermore, the analysis of relevant documents issued by the EU institutions is also included and the thesis aims to assess the feasibility of the single 2 European external energy policy. Finally, the thesis includes two case-studies: the first one is dealing with energy relations between Russia and Belarus and Ukraine. The second one is dedicated to the Nord Stream gas pipeline project.
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The motivation of the countries of the Visegrad group for energy cooperation
Kohoutová, Petra ; Kučerová, Irah (advisor) ; Odintsov, Nikita (referee)
Practically every single state sees energy security as one of the main security and political topics nowadays. Its significance is on the rise. Although there is a continuous progress regarding renewable sources of energy, the world remains largely dependent on non- renewable resources. They are unevenly distributed across the world, especially in case of oil and natural gas. This results in dividing the countries between importers and exporters. This diploma thesis focuses on energy cooperation or more precisely on motivations for energy cooperation between member states of the Visegrad group. These four Central European countries share some similarities. In energy area they all are the importers of both oil and gas and they rely on the Russian Federation as their main supplier. Energy cooperation within the Visegrad group is usually explained by two theoretical approaches - realism or neoliberal institutionalism. This thesis introduces these approaches and works with a hypothesis that energy cooperation between the member states of the Visegrad group is best explained by neoliberal institutionalism. The thesis represents a qualitative study and uses the method of a comparative case study. The analytic part of the thesis is divided into four case studies regarding each member state of the V4....
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Brain Drain: Hindering Development of Lesser Developed Nations?
Galeano, Mario ; Parízek, Michal (advisor) ; Kučerová, Irah (referee)
Mario Galeano Thesis- Migration and Remittances: Hindering the Development of Lesser Developed Nations? International Economic and Political Studies Supervisor: Mgr Michal Parizek Abstract As migration has become recently one of the highlights for studies in sociology and economics and is becoming ever more apparent in the political discourse world-wide, the objective of this study is to widen our understanding of its effects on culture, politics, economy and development, particularly in Latin and Central America. It can be considered that the accelerated migration after the fall of Communism will not be slowing down, as economic inequalities within nations keep putting pressure on populations and as the levels of globalization open-up new spaces into which the former primary pressure for migration can be absorbed. An interaction of these two factors thus propels both the supply and the demand for migration. This thesis seeks to understand both sides of the migration phenomenon and investigate to what extent migration is hindering the development of Latin American nations that fall under the attraction of some more developed world powers and which subsequently lose the status of a self-sustaining economy. The study analyzes the case of migration of Central American workers primarily to the United States,...
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Effectiveness of the decision-making process in the WTO - the Uruguay and Doha round
Jánská, Lucie ; Karlas, Jan (advisor) ; Kučerová, Irah (referee)
The study examines multilateral negotiation in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and later in the World Trade Organization. It analyses the effectiveness of the decision-making process on the liberalization of trade in agricultural products in the Uruguay and Doha rounds of negotiations. Agriculture seems to be the most problematic and the most controversial issue on the agenda during the both rounds of negotiations. The aim of the study is to analyse the negotiation processes in selected cases and compare them to identify factors explaining the difference in the effectiveness of the decision-making process between Uruguay and Doha round. The study also attempts to clarify why it is so complicated to conclude the Doha round after more than fifteen years of negotiations. Therefore, six factors with presumed influence on the effectiveness of the decision-making process are defined in the theoretical part of the study: number of actors, leadership, inclusiveness of negotiation, agenda complexity, coalitions and strategies of actors. The degree of influence of these factors is then tested in the practical part of the study. The study assumes that the efficiency of the decision-making process is increased by the reduced number of active actors in the negotiation, the willingness of the actors...
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