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Pledge fulfillment in NATO: free-riding of "new members"
Slánský, Jan ; Kučera, Tomáš (advisor) ; Rosendorf, Ondřej (referee)
The diploma thesis focuses on the causes of the phenomenon of free-riding and the approach to fulfilling commitments towards NATO and burden-sharing in general in the cases of "new" NATO members. The timeframe of 2015-2019 and the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method combined with three case studies (Lithuania, Hungary, Romania) were chosen for the research. The QCA focused on four independent variables - economic situation, perceived level of threat, strategic culture (Atlantism/Europeanism) and ideological orientation of the government (left/right). The perceived level of threat proved to be a necessary and potentially sufficient variable. However, among the investigated cases, there was none empirically confirming the sufficiency. The simplest combination of variables that led to fulfilling the commitments and was supported by an existing case was a combination of an intensely perceived level of threat and the strategic culture characteristic of Atlanticism. Because already existing research on free-riding indicates that it is a multi-causal phenomenon, the author is inclined to the opinion that the mentioned combination of variables is the simplest sufficient combination. The economic situation proved to be without significant influence. The QCA results also indicate the ideological...
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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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