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Kurdistan Regional Government: Internal Constrains and Failed Quest for Independence
Hussein, Nuha ; Doboš, Bohumil (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
Since 2003, Iraq went into a significant shift of political authority in which many political parties fighting for leadership failed to keep peace in the region; however, for many - like ruling parties in Kurdistan Region of Iraq - a golden compass was in the pot to gain more authority high political positions in the region. The new Iraqi Constitution recognized KRG as an autonomous entity of Iraq, and Kurdish politicians were taking high political positions within the new Iraqi government. Despite these achievements, the political instability post-Iraq War remained and was shaped by internal factors like security, economy, and unresolved issues over disputed territories. Regional and international interventions also had a hand in these internal conflicts. For Kurdistan Regional Government, the question of Kurdish statehood never dissipated. The internal political setting post-2010 provided an environment of possible Kurdish statehood - or at least as the Kurdish leaders anticipated. In 2017, the KRG went for an unsupported referendum of independence that soon shifted the political dynamic between Kurdish parties and Baghdad into a turmoil of power struggle. The thesis builds a comprehensive discussion of factors of internal conflict in the KRG and analyzes how these internal disputes affected...
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Nagorno-Karabakh: 2020 war and the new geopolitical reality.
Vantsyan, Tatevik ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Doboš, Bohumil (referee)
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which erupted in the end of 1980s, entered its most dangerous phase after the 1994 ceasefire agreement. The 2020 war totally changed the geopolitical situation of the South Caucasus region. After the victory and preservation of the status quo for 26 years, Armenia suffered huge losses and is left defeated and humiliated. Russian influence enhanced due to deployment of peacekeepers into Nagorno-Karabakh, while Turkey actively engaged in the war, openly supported Azerbaijan, and took a position of a more active player. Clash of conflicts between the reality and the narratives and rhetoric, which have been an inseparable part of this conflict, reached its culmination during the war. Even though the military actions were halted, and Russian-brokered trilateral ceasefire agreement was signed, long-term peace and reaching a final conflict solution seem quite farfetched.
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The power of the General: Which factors influence the level of authoritarianism in the Southern African context?
Wordsworth, Ronan Peter ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Doboš, Bohumil (referee)
1 Abstract This paper sets out to answer the central question on the causes of authoritarianism within the regional context of Southern Africa. The hypothesises of the article are that there are several factors that contribute to authoritarian levels within the South African Development Community (SADC). The research aims to adequately define the concept of authoritarianism, and then investigate the relationship between authoritarianism and five different indicators. The links are explored for level of authoritarianism against the level of military expenditure of the government, the threat perception of the government, whether there is a single dominant-party system of government, whether the country has a history of coup d'états, and finally, the dominant party in the civil-military relations. This leads to an investigation into the role that the military plays within authoritarian regimes, and which factors lead to increased authoritarianism. Due to the unique post-colonial context whereby many liberation movements and fighters were then installed as leaders of the country, there is a 'special relationship' between many leaders in the Southern African Development Community and the respective military and defence leadership and this paper will seek to explore these links. It is hypothesised that...
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Russian Eurasianism: Geopolitical plan to conquer the world?
Rédrová, Natálie ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Kazharski, Aliaksei (referee)
Eurasianism emerged more than hundred years ago as an intellectual emigre movement after the First World War, mainly as a theory of national values and traditions. In my thesis, I examine how did this politico-philosophical ideology evolved into its Neo-Eurasian version which is popular under the current Russian system. As most of the Eurasian papers were never translated into English and the available; contemporary literature tends to be critical about Eurasian ideology without being examined properly, I decided to translate and evaluate the original texts too. In my bachelor thesis I focused on topics of Eurasian geopolitics. I compared the main classic works of the western geopolitical analysts to the Neo-Eurasian writings and explained the historical background of this land. I analysed into what extend is the Kremlin following the (Neo)Eurasian Doctrine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Also, how Russian Federation incline towards the eastern states after conflicts and misunderstanding with the western states. I collected and compared the information from the official documents, historical writings of the Russian and foreign authors and the geopolitical predictions of the past century. This paper might be of a value for western researchers without a knowledge of Russian language and...
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Turkey's Influence in Kosovo and Albania since 2006
Rukiqi, Dorjeta ; Doboš, Bohumil (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
Kosovo and Albania have developed relations with Turkey for many centuries, due to a shared history. These relations took another dimension in the 21st century with the entrance of President Erdogan into the political scene of Turkey. Personal relations were developing between the leader of Turkey with leaders in Kosovo and Albania. Moreover, in the field of economy, they have reached many agreements that impact the markets of Turkey, Albania and Kosovo. The shared past concluded to major similarities in culture between the countries. Due to Muslim societies, Turkey has also been utilizing religion as a tool to project soft power in Albania and Kosovo. In this study we take a closer look at Turkish influence in Albania and Kosovo in the political, economic, and cultural spheres. The study was conducted on a mixed methodology where ten semi-structured interviews with experts, professors and politicians were developed (five per each country) and a survey to include citizens' perceptions on the topic (867 persons responded to the survey, around 51% of respondents from Kosovo and 49% from Albania). This study concluded that Turkey's influence in Kosovo and Albania is not negative, except for rare cases of penetration in internal politics. Cultural similarities are seen to contribute to trade between...
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Attempted secessions in Myanmar: case studies of Karen and Shan states (1948 - 2015)
Dembický, Filip ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Doboš, Bohumil (referee)
Master diploma thesis deals with the potential secessionist attempts in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Thesis is divided into several parts: introduction, theoretical part, practical part and conclusion. In the introduction of the thesis the research question is stated: Is it possible to justify the secessionist attempts in the Karen and the Shan State by the theory of the remedial secession? Theoretical part consists of two chapters. The first chapter explains the concepts of the secession, the sovereignty and the quasi-state. The concept of the normative theories of secession is described. The remedial theory of secession elaborated by American political philosopher Allen Buchanan is introduced in this chapter. Buchanan's remedial theory criteria are applied in the practical part of the research. The second chapter of the theoretical part depicts the constitutional and political history of the independent state of Burma/Myanmar since year 1948 when the state had been created until the year 2015 when Nationwide Ceasefire Act of 2015 between the Burmese federal government and the ethnic armed organizations was signed. This chapter serves as a background for diachronic comparison of three subdivisions of Burmese constitutional and political history. Those subdivisions are: the first era (1947...
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Oil and its influence on the development of democracy. Comparative study of Norway and Azerbaijan
Bárta, Richard ; Guasti, Petra (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
On cases of Norway and Azerbaijan, the Bachelor's thesis examines the relationship between the oil and gas production revenues and the quality of democracy. Norway is one of the few countries in the world, that had successfully avoided the Resource curse symptoms. On the other hand, Republic of Azerbaijan is typical example of a state, where oil and gas revenues helped to promote the authoritarian regime. The thesis is trying to find key factors of Norway's oil and gas management success, and also to point out, whether these factors were absent in the case of Azerbaijan. The thesis is focused on the amount of oil and gas related revenues, and its influence on developement of democracy in observed countries. Finally, the thesis responds to following questions: Is the quality of democracy influenced by the amount of revenues from oil and gas? In what way did the revenues allocated from the mineral resources extraction helped to preserve the current regimes? Does Norwegian model provide guidance for avoiding the symptoms of the Resource curse?
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