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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.
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De Gaulle's first veto on British membership of the European economic community as an instrument for promoting national interest
Mashehová, Sandra ; Kasáková, Zuzana (advisor) ; Perottino, Michel (referee)
This bachelor thesis is a case study which had as a goal to explore whether the veto of General Charles de Gaulle has as an objective to promote or ensure French national interest. Another aim of the paper was to answer whether de Gaulle's policy towards European Economic Community had in the first place geopolitical or economic character. Generally, de Gaulle's policy towards EEC and his decisions taken in European affairs are considered mainly in the geopolitical terms. This thesis set a goal to confirm or disprove this proposition throw analyzing debate between the supporters of liberalism and realism. Throw this analysis I have come to the conclusion that French national interest in de Gaulle's policy towards European Economic Community and reasons he vetoed British appeal to join the Community can't be seen only in geopolitical terms. As Moravcsik argues, economic roots and an effort to satisfy interest groups - French farmers - are evident in de Gaulle's policy. Economic reasons had at least same (or even higher) importance as geopolitical ones. Nevertheless, clear and definite answer to question whether the dominant theme in veto and national interest was Economy or Geopolitics still can't be given.
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Russian geopolitics - constants and changes after the split of the USSR
Vosátková, Veronika ; Tomeš, Jiří (advisor) ; Jelen, Libor (referee)
As the diploma's thesis it was chosen the theoretical analysis of the geopolitical position of Russia. The primary objective of this study is the evaluation of current geopolitics of the Russian Federation after the collapse of Soviet Union and outlines its future development. This work tries to answer a few basic questions. What is the current geopolitical situation in Russia, in what direction it develops, and whether we can declare a major shift to any direction. The work is divided into several main parts. Introduction is followed by a theoretical grasp of key concepts and the main actors involved in geopolitics. The other two parts contain an analysis of the relationship of Russia to key actors such as the US and NATO, the EU, China, the near neighborhood in Central Asia and the Transcaucasia and geopolitics of oil and natural gas. The last is practical part, in which the information from the previous sections are applied to specific examples in Russian foreign policy. Keywords: Geopolitics, Russia, eurasianism, foreign policy, the US, the EU, China, Central Assia, NATO, energy policy, oil, natural gas
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Missile Defence in Northeast Asia and its Influence on the Chinese Strategic Behaviour
Mareš, Tomáš ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Smetana, Michal (referee)
Master thesis analyzes strategic behavior of the PRC in the region of the Northeast Asia in direct relationship with regional missile defense. The aim is to analyze motives of China`s regional strategic behavior with respect to the specific technological element (= Theatre Missile Defense) on the basis of predetermined analytical levels: realistic, liberal and constructivist. But there are great differences in technological configuration of individual missile defense systems or in the configuration of the relationship of regional actors with the PRC. Thus the thesis will comprise of case studies analyzing the complex relationship of the PRC and regional actors (that are creating regional missile defense). The creation of regional missile defense can endanger China`s vital strategic interests (in the region of Northeast Asia) under specific conditions. But the regional strategic behaviour of the PRC is moderate. The aim is to explain, why the PRC does not change its regional strategic behavior in direct connection with emerging theater missile defence.
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US-China relationship in the field of naval security: cooperation or conflict?
Paličková, Lucie ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Střítecký, Vít (referee)
Diploma thesis 'US-China Relationship in the Field of Naval Security - Cooperation or Conflict' focuses on the current phenomenon of Chinese naval rise and its implications for the relationship between China and today's leading naval power United States both in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region. Using the comparative analysis, both the strategies as well as naval capacities of China and the US in both aforementioned regions are compared in order to assess the future character of their naval relationship. This thesis addresses also the evolution of Chinese navy and Chinese naval modernization on its own as well as its motives and those ideational and material factors which have a considerable impact on this modernization.
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Population development of Kazakhstan: Geographic, economic and geopolitical aspects
Rodionov, Viktor ; Pavlík, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Kučera, Tomáš (referee) ; Kalibová, Květa (referee)
Population development of Kazakhstan: geographic, economic and geopolitical aspects Abstract Present research based on analysis of the main trends in demographic development of Kazakhstan at the national and regional level. Demographic changes are quite important factor affecting the problems of territorial, economic and geopolitical development of the country. Relatively small population quite clearly reflects the changes of economic and geopolitical conditions. The result of it is the changes in population size, structure, and geographical pattern. Over the past decade in Kazakhstan observed population growth and change of ethnic structure. Against this background, distribution of the population within the country becomes one of the key problems in Kazakhstan. The main reason is growing disproportions in economic development of regions. Quite significant role here plays the ethnic heterogeneity of the regions, which also determines the nature of population development. Under such conditions, the demographic development acquires strategic importance.
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Geopolitics/Foreign Policy of the Czech Republic - Quantitative Analysis
Hofman, Pavel ; Tomeš, Jiří (advisor) ; Kofroň, Jan (referee)
The objective of this study is to describe and apply quantitative method to analyze Czech foreign policy in period from 1993 to 2011 on the background of newly formed geopolitical situation after the collapse of the Iron curtain. The first part according to literature describes current foreign policy of the Czech Republic, its development from the foundation of independent sovereign state, priorities and problems and also possible future continuation. The second part examines foreign diplomatic visits of top Czech politicians, which are one of the most main tools of foreign policy. These visits and their territorial changes, preferences and influence on foreign trade were analyzed in connection with main geopolitical and other events, especially the EU and NATO accessions. Results show that 58 % of all visits from the Czech Republic headed to the EU. The most visited country was Belgium followed by the USA, Germany and Slovakia. Czech foreign policy has focused more on these and other member states of the EU and NATO since the Czech Republic became a member of these organizations. Key words: foreign relations and diplomatic visits, geopolitics, foreign trade
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Geopolitical influence of USA in Subs-saharan Africa and its changes during 2nd half of 20th century
Chaloupková, Jana ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
Bachelor thesis is focused on a progress in four Sub-Saharan countries (Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia and Rwanda) during Cold War and the 90's and on a role of United States of America in this progress. How relations of Cold War allies or enemies determinate the current Africa policy of United States is the fundamental question of this thesis. Author uses Mill's Method of Agreement. Intervention or involvement in ethnic or civil conflict in the 90's was chosen as a dependent variable. It should symbolize growing U.S. interest in the country. Nondependent variables are factors which can affect the decision making process of intervention - Cold War collaboration, involvement in the proxy war, humanitarian aid or military assistance, troops training. Thesis uses empirical-analytical approach. First and second chapter are moreover focused on complex U.S. Africa Policy, on its development and current situation. They describe humanitarian and other agencies and also approaches of U.S. presidents since the end of the Second World War. Other chapters are written as a One Case Studies, the comparison of them as well as problems of intervention are included in last chapter.
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Possibilities of Neoclassical Geopolitics: Systemic Approach
Kofroň, Jan ; Dostál, Petr (advisor) ; Ištok, Robert (referee) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
The submitted dissertation tries to introduce neoclassical geopolitics as a viable approach to the study of international politics from geographical perspective. The dissertation is a compact of six already published articles and a common introduction highlighting main points of the articles and further discussing some issues which were (i) eliminated due to space constrains, or (ii) their significance is rather contextual, in the sense that they set the articles into broader discussions. The first part of the thesis (supported by two articles) deals with a current stage of political geography and geopolitics. The main result is that geopolitics is today a divided (sub)discipline, as geographers are mainly engaged in critical geopolitics and scholars of the International Relations continue in classical geopolitical reasoning (namely those who subscribe themselves under the label of neorealism). The main difference is that geographers consider space as an inter-subjective entity - socially constructed, whereas IR scholars tend to see space as an objective factor. In the combination with other epistemological differences, this different consideration of space has produced an exorbitant barrier between these two fields. One factor dividing the two approaches looms especially large - it is an arduous...
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