|
|
The Impact of the New Silk Road on the Geopolitical Influence of the United States in the Middle Wastern Region
Šimek, Jan ; Raška, Francis (advisor) ; Sehnálková, Jana (referee)
The thesis focuses on influence of Chinese Belt and Road initiative on geopolitical stability of United States in Middle East through tightening relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Through interdependence theory the thesis points out effort of the People's Republic of China to straighten its geopolitical influence at the expense of United States through various profitable economical connections and potential of long-term multi-level cooperation. This cooperation helps China to gain higher confidence from Israel and Saudi Arabia and trough their trust willingness to further cooperation. Rising trade between China and states of Middle East also gives China potential to cooperate with various states on different sides of conflict and through economical cooperation with them China has potential to become a moderator of mutual diplomatic relations between hostile states. This has huge impact on geopolitical position of United States and their negotiation position in dialogues with local states. The Belt and Road Initiative has apart from geopolitical influence also economical influence which drains trade from United States to China. It also has goal to bring energetic resources to China, which as well takes trade with oil from United States and helps China to became biggest trade partner for local...
|
|
|
European attitudes towards 'Belt and Road' initiative: new chinese soft power mechanism?
Kachlíková, Eva
China’s rise raised negative emotions within the international area. China makes an effort to rebrand the country’s image through soft power and position itself as a responsible and attractive international partner. This thesis aims to shed light on European perception towards China’s global project Belt and Road Initiative, mainly how BRI is perceived in the EU through media analysis and how BRI contributed to the improvement of Chinese soft power. The primary objective of this research is to find an answer what is the EU perception towards Belt and Road Initiative and how has BRI contributed to the improvement of China’s soft power. The theoretical part defines the European perception of China in the framework of the EU-China relations. In this context, the global phenomenon BRI is defined. This description of the actions of the ground addresses to narrative what new brought BRI into the image of China. The practical part deals with media discourse analysis in selected countries. More than six hundred articles related to BRI were analysed.
|
|
|
The Belt and Road - Is China moving towards the centre of international trade? Assessment of impact on Balkans and Central Europe using network and gravity analysis
Reinštein, Jakub ; Semerák, Vilém (advisor) ; Komárek, Luboš (referee)
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a potentially world-changing Chinese economic and geopolitical strategy. In this thesis Gravity Model of Trade (GMT) and Network analysis are employed to assess the relative position of China in the International Trade Network (ITN), the overall impact of BRI, and its effect on countries in Central Eastern Europe and Western Balkans grouped in 17+1 mechanism. The results from Network analysis indicate that since the 1990s China is gradually moving towards the center of ITN. Subnetwork of BRI countries also exhibits higher cohesion and resilience to external shocks than ITN. GMT identified BRI as a significant and positive factor influencing exports, however in case of 17+1 mechanism countries the results are not robust. GMT was also successfully experimentally augmented with Network analysis variables demonstrating its possible enhancements and showing the path for further research. JEL Classification C23, C51, E27, F14 Keywords Gravity Model of Trade, Network Analysis, Belt and Road Initiative, 17+1 Mechanism Title The Belt and Road - Is China moving towards the center of international trade? Assessment of impact on Balkans and Central Europe using network and gravity analysis
|
|
|
Bandwagoning with the Belt and Road: Russia's changing attitude towards the Chinese presence in Central Asia post-Crimea
Bill, Simon ; Šír, Jan (advisor) ; Horák, Slavomír (referee) ; Duncan, Peter John Stuart (referee)
BILL, Simon. Bandwagoning with the Belt and Road: Russia's changing attitude towards the Chinese presence in Central Asia post-Crimea. Praha, 2019. 78 pages. Master's thesis (Mgr.). Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of International Studies. Department of Russian and East European Studies. Supervisor Prof. Jan Šír, Ph.D. Abstract Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has considered the Central Asian states to be a part of its exclusive sphere of influence. In recent years, however, China has also increased its presence in the region, investing heavily in the energy and transportation sectors. This is exemplified by its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), specifically its Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) component, which was launched in September 2013. As China increased its presence in the region, and Russia launched its own initiative, the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU), the two powers seemed to be on a collision course. However, relations between the two never deteriorated as predicted. Instead, the opposite has happened. In 2015, Russia found itself internationally isolated due to its controversial actions in Ukraine and embraced China's initiative. This dissertation will seek to explain Russia's increasingly accommodating attitude towards China's growing investment and influence...
|
|
|
Approaches of Thailand, Malaysia, Laos towards the Pan-Asian railway project
Kryčer, Jan
This thesis aims to describe the individual approaches of Thailand, Malaysia, and Laos towards the Chinese Pan-Asian railway, which is part of the One Belt One Road Initiative. The railway is planned to run from the southern part of China, precisely from the city of Kunming, across Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia to its final destination Singapore. Presently the construction of this railway seems to be a crucial project for the continuity of the One Belt One Road Initiative. The described approaches of the individual states are in the final section of the thesis further analyzed and explained.
|
|
|
The Dragon's Pearls: Decoding the Chinese Strategy for the Indian Ocean
Porter, Andrew ; Karásková, Ivana (advisor) ; Karmazin, Aleš (referee)
In the Indian Ocean Region, China's economic and strategic interests are converging as many of its investments lie along the vital ocean routes needed to literally and figuratively fuel its growing economy. The rollout of Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, against the backdrop of, and in line with this convergence, has raised concerns about the military-strategic utility of various infrastructure projects. The increased economic connectivity that drives the Belt and Road has inherent strategic consequences, but the degree to which geostrategic factors drive investments divides analysts. Some believe that certain ports have been purposefully selected as future bases for China's navy. To address the difficulty of comprehending China's foreign policy decisions, this thesis draws on a neoclassical realist interpretation of international relations, and uses geographical location, collective memory, strategic culture, and domestic politics to develop a better understanding of Chinese policymakers' perceptions of their international security environment. This study develops methodology to evaluate the strategic value of a site in context to different basing strategies. The work sheds light on how China views its future position in the world by deciphering intentions behind Chines investments in ports...
|
|
| |
|
|
Business and Investment Cooperation of China and selected Middle Eastern countries with a focus on oil trade
Kunovský, Ondřej ; De Castro, Tereza (advisor) ; Vošta, Milan (referee)
The aim of this master thesis is to find out what the drivers of Chinese oil imports are. Also, it highlights an oil demand from three Middle Eastern countries. The reason for the topic was a rising Chinese oil demand and its interest in investments in oil industry. The thesis is divided into four parts. The first part describes development of mutual relations with the Middle East and a Chinese economy development. The second chapter introduces an economic development of Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates and explains their dependency on oil exports. Next part identifies internal and external oil trade drivers and highlights various investment projects. Then, the last chapter presents the perspectives of the New Silk Road and highlights projects with an impact on oil trade.
|
|
|
Potential of Continental Transport between People’s Republic of China and the Czech Republic
Sojková, Petra ; Kolář, Petr (advisor) ; Novák, Radek (referee)
The European Union (EU) is a key trading partner for the People's Republic of China (PRC). Nearly one third of PRC's production is send to the EU and half of EU exports is directed to the PRC. Such huge trade volumes require an appropriate logistical connection, which is currently dominated by maritime transport. However, since 2007 railway transport has also been available. The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate the position of the railway transport of the PRC European route (with focus on the position of the Czech Republic) with regard to its development, obstacles and potential for the future. Firstly, the paper describes the background and reasons for the establishment of the New Silk Road (One Belt One Road initiative), followed by the trade and economic cooperation between the PRC and the Czech Republic. The practical part deals with individual aspects of railway connection. Neither in terms of trade volumes nor price can railway compete with the maritime solution, nevertheless it slowly but surely acquires its first regular customers.
|
|
|
New Silk Road Initiatives
Hilliová, Markéta ; Horák, Slavomír (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
Thesis "New Silk Road Strategy" focuses on U.S. Foreign policy strategy for Central Asia and Afghanistan. This strategy draws its inspiration from various concepts of restoring the ancient Silk Route and thus creating renewed continental link between far East and West. These concepts began to emerge significantly after the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991. The thesis firstly introduces these concepts and thus provides a theoretical and conceptual background for the NSR strategy. This strategy was adopted by U.S. State Department in June 2011. In this thesis I am arguing that not much success was achieved so far. I demonstrate this on the case of two main projects - the proposed construction of TAPI pipeline and Trade and Transit Agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan APTTA.
|
guest ::
