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Uprising in Libya: "The Al-Jazeera Effect"
Hanzal, Jaromír ; Nečas, Vlastimil (advisor) ; Bednařík, Petr (referee)
The bachelor thesis Uprising in Libya: "The Al-Jazeera Effect" uses a quantitative analysis to examine the relationship the Czech printed media has towards the Arab news network Al Jazeera. The preliminary theoretical part is divided into three sections. In the first section, the author presents Al Jazeera as an important actor in the regional and global television news market. The second section summarizes the findings about two interesting phenomenons that aren't unanimously accepted by academic literature - the so called "CNN effect" and the "Al Jazeera effect". The third section then reflects on the current quantitative research that deals with Al Jazeera's news coverage. The core of this thesis rests solely on the quantitative research. The author focused on key events that could be expected to increase the references to the Al Jazeera network. Therefore, the thesis examined two twelve month periods in which international news outlets informed of the events related to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001, and of the development of anti-regime uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa collectively labeled as the Arab Spring in 2011. The ten-year gap in between these two periods has given the author a chance to focus particularly on the change in the...
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The Middle Eastern alliances: Analysis of relations and further development of the region
Eštoková, Denisa ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Ditrych, Ondřej (referee)
Examining any topic in the Middle East requires a general knowledge because of the region's complexity and dynamics. Important characteristics is the link of Islam and politics, because this relation shaped political establishment of states. The strategic location and rich natural resources of this part of the world were tempting also for the global superpowers whose engagement divided the Middle Eastern states, particularly during the Cold War. An analysis of the factors and events that led to the formation of alliances and rivalries in the Middle East is the goal of this work. Research will focus on alliances of Iran and its Shia allies on the one hand and Saudi Arabia with the rest of Sunni monarchies on the other. Unlike other alliances mentioned in the work, these two blocks have long term character. They are also specific because of sectarian differences, their stance towards the United States and Israel and shared responses to emerging threats. Historical development of Middle Eastern alliances begins with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, continues with the both World wars, the Israeli-Arab conflict, the Islamic revolution in Iran and other milestones which were meaningful in shaping inter-state relations in the region. The modern period moves from invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq to...
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The development of EU democracy assistance in the 21st century: the case of Tunisia after the Arab Spring
Linhart, Jakub ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Matějka, Ondřej (referee)
This paper investigates the developments of European democracy promotion in the second decade of the 21st century or more precisely after the Arab spring. The research of the European promotion structure is based on a thorough analysis, using Tunisia as an example. After this analysis, this paper further focuses on the development of overall European democracy support in Morocco, Egypt and in the broader region. From this research we learn, that in the second half of the 2010s there is an increase in the finances intended for democracy promotion in both absolute and relative terms (when compared to other sectors). This thesis analyses possible reasons for this surge e.g. an attempt to compensate for the democratic deficit in the EU or a reaction to the migration crisis. At the same time, this paper examines the limits of this development and argues that for example the need for stability will further limit any future development of the European democracy support.
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Critical Discourse Analysis of Turkish Newspapers on Gezi Protests and Arab Spring: A Comparative Analysis of 'Sabah' and 'Cumhuriyet' Newspapers.
Çakır, Alper ; Černý, Karel (advisor) ; Německý, Marek (referee)
Protests have been important social phenomena for the wider Middle East, especially since the Arab Spring, with the potential to achieve dramatic change. Understanding the nature of uprisings in the region is important for our understanding of the present and the future. To this end, this thesis tried to make sense of the dynamics and processes that led to the emergence of three protests in the region, the 25th of January Revolution in Egypt, the Syrian Uprising, and the Gezi protest. It tried to analyze the different aspects in which they were comparable. Furthermore, it tried to analyze their representation in the media by uncovering the differences and similarities between the discourse of two Turkish newspapers, Sabah and Cumhuriyet, in their columns and news reports regarding these instances of protests. Critical discourse analysis was used alongside comparative case study to see the differences between social reality and the discourse of the newspapers. Also, the thesis tried to explain the discrepancies and commonalities between the discourse of the newspapers. When the protests were compared with the help of the existing literature, it was seen that the protests had some similarities in the aspects such as causes of protest, the performance of the protestors, and state reaction. Moreover,...
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Operation Odyssey Dawn: President Obama's decision-making process
Buriánek, Petr ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
Intervention in Libya is an anomaly in President Barack Obama's foreign policy during his eight years in the office. This thesis aims to analyze the decision-making process leading to this unprecedented step. Using Graham Allison's Bureaucratic Politics Model, the purpose of this analysis is to investigate the influence of some presidential advisors and allies on his final decision. Data for this study were collected using President Obama's public statements, biographies of several members of the administration, and secondary academic sources. After some general context, the thesis closely examines the selected period from the first protests in Libya on February 15 to the beginning of the Operation United Protector on March 31. This timeframe of forty-five days is further divided into the week-by-week process tracing analyses. The development on the ground in Libya is merged with changes of attitude in the American administration and changing alliances among the members of the advisory team of the President. The Bureaucratic Politics Model is used to analyze specific tactics used by American officials to impose their preferred scenario. The study also tests the applicability of several new methodological approaches within the Bureaucratic Politics Model like the palace politics perspective,...
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The development of EU democracy assistance in the 21st century: the case of Tunisia after the Arab Spring
Linhart, Jakub ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Matějka, Ondřej (referee)
This paper investigates the developments of European democracy promotion in the second decade of the 21st century or more precisely after the Arab spring. The research of the European promotion structure is based on a thorough analysis, using Tunisia as an example. After this analysis, this paper further focuses on the development of overall European democracy support in Morocco, Egypt and in the broader region. From this research we learn, that in the second half of the 2010s there is an increase in the finances intended for democracy promotion in both absolute and relative terms (when compared to other sectors). This thesis analyses possible reasons for this surge e.g. an attempt to compensate for the democratic deficit in the EU or a reaction to the migration crisis. At the same time, this paper examines the limits of this development and argues that for example the need for stability will further limit any future development of the European democracy support.
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Politico-geographical analysis of position of the Islamist parties in Egypt and Tunisia
Jelínek, Antonín ; Jelen, Libor (advisor) ; Černý, Karel (referee)
The Islamist movements operate in all the countries of the Middle East and North Africa region. The mother organization, which is also best-known among the movements, is the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, whose ideas spread quickly into other countries in the region. Although the Islamist movements are ideologically different, they have one similar attribute - focus on various social issues as well as the fact that they originally profiled as charity organizations and they have only recently entered the political scene. The main goal of this diploma thesis is to analyze and compare the activities and achievements of the Muslim Brotherhood (The Freedom and Justice party) and The Movement of Islamic Tendency (The Ennadhda party) within the political systems in Egypt and Tunisia. The thesis also aims at verifying explanatory cleavage of Islamist electorate based on the cleavage theory within Egypt and Tunisia. The biggest success of the Islamist movements so far meant the changes after the Arab Spring. Following this event the Islamist movements won the first free parliamentary election in both countries. However, the political activities of the Muslim Brotherhood did not last so long in Egypt - nowadays the movement exists only illegally and it has been in a difficult position. On the contrary, the...
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Visegrad Countries Positions Towards European Policy on Ilegal Immigration and Asylum
Karaca, Bilal Bahadır ; Kučerová, Irah (advisor) ; Jeřábek, Martin (referee)
Illegal immigration is one of the current problems that occupy the European agenda. With the beginning of the revolutionary movements called 'the Arab Spring' in the Middle East and North Africa, Europe has faced massive uncontrolled migration waves. In this period, the asylum applications in European countries have broken a record in the history of the EU. This situation has impelled the European Union and its member states to take certain measures. However, political disagreements were observed over some of the measures taken by the EU. In light of these developments, this thesis will focus on illegal immigration movements from the Middle East and North Africa region to Europe right after the beginning of the Arab Spring (in other words from at the end of 2010 to now). In this context, this master's thesis aims to give the immigration and asylum policies of the European Union aiming to prevent these illegal immigration waves and to evaluate the political positions of the Visegrad countries during this period.
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British reaction to the Arab Spring events in the context of United Kingdom's relations with Persian Gulf countries
Fričová, Kateřina ; Váška, Jan (advisor) ; Weiss, Tomáš (referee)
The diploma thesis named British reaction to the Arab Spring events in the context of United Kingdom's relations with Persian Gulf countries is concerned with an impact of the revolutionary events of 2011, known as the Arab Spring, on bilateral cooperation between United Kingdom on one side and Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman on the other. While using quantitative analysis approach, it depicts how the Persian Gulf developments were reflected by prominent British representatives and members of the Cameron coalition government. Since the government promised to approach foreign policy matters through a liberal-conservative lens and also planned to further deepen its relations with Persian Gulf countries, the Arab Spring events can be interpreted as a clear dilemma for British policymakers. This thesis aims to answer whether such dilemma forced the government officials to re-asses the traditionally warm attitudes towards Persian Gulf and additionally, it demonstrates which spheres of their cooperation were threatened the most. Firstly, the bilateral relations between United Kingdom and Persian Gulf countries between 1971 and 2010 are described. Then, the focus moves towards the Cameron coalition government and its foreign- policy aims. In its final part, the thesis focuses on British...
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The survival of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: why didn't Jordan take part in the Arab Spring?
Altwal, Yara ; Záhora, Jakub (advisor) ; Daniel, Jan (referee)
Analyzing the various factors that strengthened the Hashemite regime's stability during the spread of chaos caused by the Arab Spring is deemed important; even though the wave of the Arab Spring has ended, Jordan's economy is still suffering and the public is still demanding reform nonetheless, the Hashemite regime is untouched. This research will analyze the regime-society bond in light of the Arab Uprising that has undoubtedly assisted in the survival of the kingdom by creating a framework by which protesters unconsciously adhered to that entailed calls for political and economic reform to be initiated by the existing regime. Furthermore, the Hashemite's most powerful allies made sure to provide military and financial assistance to ensure the regime and the kingdoms remain secure and stable. However, such aid did not come without a price; it was critical for the Hashemite regime to balance between maintaining its coordinated strategies with its allies to maintain the close relations and maintaining its sovereignty and the foreign policies that serve national interests.
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