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Energy Security and U.S. Middle East Geopolitics
Vaculíková, Eva ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Kučerová, Irah (referee)
Decades of cooperation between the United States and its Middle Eastern partners have come to a turning point. The 2008 Shale Revolution has brought the United States heretofore unknown scale of energy independece. The Revolution has created an unprecedented increase in United States' unconventional cost-effectively extractable energy reserves. It is estimated that within next two decades the United States should change from net importer of hydrocarbons to net exporter. There is a lot of speculation, whether due to possible energy independece, the foreign policy towards its Middle Eastern partners would change and whether the United States would isolate itself. Aim of this work is to explore the impact of the Shale Revolution on energy security of the United States and its implications for future geopolitics towards the Middle East. The main question to be explored is whether it would change United States' geopolitics at all and if yes, how would it look like. Since domestic oil prices are based on global energy prices and since Middle Eastern partners are unique in their capability of supplying global energy markets with large quantities of oil in the long run, even after the Shale Revolution it will be essential for the United States to continue its cooperation with its Middle Eastern partners....
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Cybersecurity and national resilience in Estonia
Nicol, Cameron ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Karásek, Tomáš (referee)
This thesis is an attempt to analyse the relationship between the increasingly popular concept of national resilience and cybersecurity. National resilience is a concept that has permeated the security and policy making realms in recent times. This relationship is examined by using the Baltic nation of Estonia as a model due to the nation being regarded as the 'most digitally advanced in the world'. The main objective of the thesis is to investigate the relationship between cybersecurity and national resilience and discuss the implications of this relationship in the wider security context. The thesis begins by establishing if a nexus exists between the concept of national resilience and cybersecurity. In order to better understand the potential impact cyber security could have on a nation's resilience, it is important to establish the relationship between the two concepts. After the nexus is successfully established, the thesis then charts the development of the concept of resilience within the Estonian national security documents. The aim of this exercise is to demonstrate how the concept of resilience has been transformed over the years within an Estonian context while comparing its trajectory to the wider global trend of the concept. The research technique of content analysis is utilised to...
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Security Sector Reform in Armenia
Avakyan, Tatevik ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Ditrych, Ondřej (referee)
The main aim of this research is to investigate the dynamics of Security Sector Reform in Armenia and identify the greatest obstacles of the reformation process. The topic is of a great importance for the state and the region of South Caucasus in general regarding the process of sustainable peace and development. Furthermore, there is a lack of academic literature on the topic of Security Sector Reform in that particular state, thus, the topic is relatively new. The research is meant to be a qualitative analysis that draws on the various reports of the international organizations and development donors along with the relevant academic literature to provide the theoretical framework of the concept. Apart from that, the empirical part is also based on the interviews with the Armenian experts, which allowed gaining a deeper knowledge of the SSR issues on the ground. The research identifies, that the process of security sector reformation in Armenia has not been a stable and static process, but it has rather had its ups and downs. Namely, the beginning of 1990s is believed to be the most challenging for the state. The ceasefire agreement of 1994 started the process of sustainable development, which was, however, slowed down by the economic crisis in 2008. The "frozen" conflict with the neighboring...
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Peace and Security in post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tabaković, Dženeta ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Oberpfalzerová, Hana (referee)
Although it has been more than twenty years since the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country is still on its path to recovery, which has been very slow and very painful. The unemployment rate is staggering high, the brain drain presents a serious issue, and the country's political system looks like anything but sustainable. The Dayton Agreement may have stopped the war, but it also created a complex political structure that does not encourage the cooperation among the three constituent peoples on the scale as it was envisioned. The aim of this work is to investigate to what extent the Dayton Agreement has solidified the constructed divisions and hatreds between the ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, the thesis seeks to examine in which ways the Dayton Agreement facilities and legitimizes the political elites' quest for securitizing the ethnic identity of the respective groups. It will also try to explain the reasons behind the rapid rise of nationalism that led to the brutal war as some of these motives may still reflect the current situation in the post- Dayton period. It does so by providing a theoretical framework, which reflects the constructivist approach that will be reflected upon when examining the empirical data from post-conflict situation in Bosnia and...
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Ethical Dilemmas of Using Humanitarian Drones
Pavlíková, Markéta ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Hynek, Nikola (referee)
Unmanned aircraft vehicles were primarily used for military purposes and are still used for them. Not only for this reason is their introduction for humanitarian aims disputable, raising various dilemmas. Supporters of humanitarian drones put emphasis on/emphasize their speed, security, data amount and the possible employment of new technology in extreme environments. Critics of humanitarian technologization stress the loss of neutrality and impartiality, politicization and militarization of humanitarian aid. Consensus does not even exist amongst academics in the field. Contemporary literature is primarily targeted on the controversy of dual-usage of UAVs and on potential technical advantages with emphasis on immediate assistance. The literature dealing with ethical issues of humanitarian drones in connection to humanitarian and development practice outside the conflict zone is almost absent, and only marginally or indirectly treats the issue. The aim of this paper is to analyse potential advantages and disadvantages of humanitarian drones' proliferation within the theoretical framework of The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations in Disaster Relief, which deals with basic dilemmas in humanitarian aid. This thesis does not...
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Demographic Security of Developed Countries
Alexa, Jan ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
The thesis offers comprehensive systemic view on the problem of demographic security. The main objective is to create framework enabling the risk assessment of population composition and demographic changes of developed countries. The key variables are identified step by step in the thesis, their relations are drafted out and the methods of operationalization suggested. Keywords: demography, security, policymaking
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Drug policy in the ex-Soviet states after the introduction of new policies in the West
Sharibzhanov, Ilyas ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, illicit drugs have begun flowing into the former Soviet states for local sale and consumption, as well as for further transit to Western European states. Though the former Soviet states claim to be dedicated to the global fight against drugs, their alleged connections to the criminal underworld and weak and underdeveloped state institutions raise doubts over the sincerity and capacity of their effort. In this diploma thesis the impact of illicit drugs and the depth of the state-crime nexus in the Former Soviet Union region is analyzed, also covering crime-terror nexus, crucial in understanding the crime-terror relationship for mutual profit. The study's results have shown that various FSU states have shown varying degrees of connection to the criminal world, posing an international security risk due to the criminal underworld's involvement with clandestine drug trade in connection with terrorist groups.
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The EU Intelligence Community: Elements of a EU intelligence Culture
Contro, Christian ; Ludvík, Jan (advisor) ; Střítecký, Vít (referee)
The EUGS 2016 introduced new challenges and set specific head goals for the policy of the European Union in the fields of external action and security. Such decisions must be implemented and backed by valid intelligence support. The EU intelligence community, that according to this paper is composed by mainly four agencies (EU IntCen, EU IntDiv, SatCen and Europol), represents the backbone for the information and policy making support of the EU governance. In this paper it will be analysed the development of the EU intelligence community in order to prove the existence of a EU intelligence culture, and eventually, the five main elements that emerged in the research, by using the literature on the US intelligence community and its culture as comparation subject. The five main elements taken into account to define the EU intelligence culture and represent the foundation upon which it will be built any future development of the EU intelligence community, that will pass from a European intelligence community to a European Union integrated intelligence system. In a world in constant change in which the EU has to find its own place, the development of its intelligence becomes crucial, to understand and respond to the different types of threats.
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Global Elite and its Clubs: The Case of Bilderberg Group
Kantor, Lukáš ; Karlas, Jan (advisor) ; Střítecký, Vít (referee) ; Krpec, Oldřich (referee)
of the dissertation The following five interdisciplinary essays contribute to International Relations, sociology and media studies, mainly on empirical, but also on theoretical level. Their overarching message is to reject paranoid, but also benign narrative of global elite clubs as exemplified on the case of the controversial transatlantic forum Bilderberg Group. On theoretical level, the dissertation highlights continuing relevance of sometimes overlooked neo-Marxism. It offers further support for the thesis that some kind of transnational capitalist class (TCC) has developed, which is disputed even by several neo- Marxists, let alone other scholars. Specifically, the findings on Bilderberg Group corroborate the existence of Euro-Atlantic TCC. Within this social network, the European fraction seems to be the most consolidated one. On empirical level, the dissertation is the first publication that thoroughly exploited data from the recently launched official Bilderberg Group's website. From another under- researched source, the dissertation compiled new datasets about all post-Cold War Bilderberg conferences. On this basis, the essays provide original quantitative and qualitative insights into the composition of Bilderberg attendees and topics of their discussions. The dissertation offers the...
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Conspiracy Theories and Politics in Slovakia: How Conspiracy Thinking Relates to Political Opinions and Preferences
Kondrótová, Katarína ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Ditrych, Ondřej (referee)
Conspiracy Theories and Politics in Slovakia: How Conspiracy Thinking Relates to Political Opinions and Preferences Katarína Kondrótová Abstract (English) Conspiracy theories have become a fashionable buzzword, appearing across the internet, the media, and political speeches with great frequency. However, there are many misconceptions associated with them, making them more divisive and mysterious than they need to be. The present contribution seeks to remedy that by providing a deep dive into conspiracy theories. It examines the multitude of their possible definitions and conceptualizations, their existence across history, as well as past research findings about why they appeal to us. In the second half, conspiracy theories are presented through new research regarding their relation to political and ideological preferences of Slovaks. The findings are in line with past studies, showing a relationship between stronger conspiracy beliefs and extremist thinking, preference of authoritarian policies, and low faith in authorities. A regression analysis also uncovered a strong correlation between conspiracy beliefs and the political party the respondents had voted for, as well as their preference of the politics and ideologies of 'the West' (EU, USA) or 'the East' (Russian federation).
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