|
|
A blip on the radar? Conceptualising the Czech Republic in the United States before and after the missile defence shift
Ouellette, Megan ; Weiss, Tomáš (advisor) ; Handl, Vladimír (referee)
Megan Ouellette Abstract Abstract This study constitutes an analysis of American conceptualizations of the Czech Republic as presented in presidential materials from 1989 to 2009 and American media reporting the cancellation of the Third Site of ballistic missile defence from 14-25 September 2009. It draws on the previous research offered by constructivist interpretations of international relations and the field of critical geopolitics to explore how, and for what purpose, certain American sources of geopolitical reasoning have portrayed the Czech Republic. By comparing and contrasting the ways in which the Czech Republic has been conceptualised in presidential materials over a period of twenty years and in media sources over a two-week period relative to a particular event, the study identifies trends and thematic (in)consistencies in American "mental maps" of the Czech Republic. It shows the extent to which media reporting on President Obama's ballistic missile defence policy shift recycled pre-existing conceptualizations of the Czech Republic broadcasted on the presidential level over the twenty years prior to the policy shift. The results of content analyses of each set of texts reveal that the Czech Republic holds specific symbolic and strategic value that ultimately points back to a particular...
|
|
|
Cartoons political commentary: Freedom of speech and accusations of defamation
Hořavová, Tatiana ; Osvaldová, Barbora (advisor) ; Slanec, Jaroslav (referee)
This thesis deals with the genre of political cartoons, which is a relatively understudied genre today. The thesis tries to review the past and also the present position of the genre under question, to describe its functions and possibilities; however, it namely focuses on the potential collisions between freedom of speech and other freedoms, rights or interests that might come up in the cartoonists' work. This thesis shows the way these collisions influence the position of the whole genre and analyses the sources and reasons for the attempts to limit cartoonists in their expression. Two different areas are examined here - continental European and American - as areas with different legal tradition and history, which is a fact that manifests itself in different approach to the concepts of freedom of speech. Through analysis of three different cartoon controversies from the past that came up in these areas, this thesis reaches the conclusion, that one of the greatest challenges the cartooning craft is facing today is the phenomenon of political correctness, mainly in the American territory, which has a chilling effect on the genre of cartoons. The thesis also compares the relation between the state of freedom of speech and cartoons in the analyzed territories in general and points out the possibility of the...
|
|
|
The Role of Business Lobby in the Immigration Reform in the United States during the Second Administration of George W. Bush
Mackuliaková, Kristína ; Kozák, Kryštof (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
This bachelor thesis deals with the role of business lobbying in relation to the political arena of immigration reform in the United States during the second Bush administration era. It attempts to evaluate the impact of businesses on immigration policies through their lobbying activities. It analyzes expenditures on two separate bills that were introduced in Congress in the years 2006 and 2007. The thesis tries to answer the question whether American businesses enjoy an uneven impact on politics and is based on several premises. Businesses try to increase their profits via decreasing the wage level which is made possible by abundance of workers. They also try to prevent a situation in which there is a scarcity of workers. Businesses thus demand open liberal immigration policy and spend considerable resources to achieve this goal. Businesses have, according to some authors, a special position among other interest groups which enables them to effectively control political decisions. Given the fact that both bills I considered were liberal and heavily supported by the business lobby groups and still did not pass in the Congress I will claim that businesses are not as powerful as often expected.
|
|
|
United States and Israel: A Special Relationship? US Foreign Policy towards Israel, 1956-73
Strýčková, Katarína ; Raška, Francis (advisor) ; Bečka, Jan (referee)
The B.A. thesis "United States and Israel: A Special Relationship?, U.S. Foreign Policy Towards Israel in 1956-73" analyses the development of U.S.-Israeli relationship on the background of the regional development in the Middle East in 1956-73. The thesis focuses mainly on the American-Israeli military cooperation, more particularly on the American arms supply to Israel. It analyses the emergence, development and the intensity of the special relationship between Washington and Jerusalem through the key events of the Arab-Israeli conflict, such as the Suez Crisis, the Six Day War and the Jomkippur War, and other regional crisis in the Middle East. The relationship had a crucial significance for the United States. It helped to stabilize the region, to prevent further soviet influence in this area and thus protect American geostrategic interests.
|
|
|
The Importance of the Arctic in International Relations
Kopečná, Anna ; Bečka, Jan (advisor) ; Šír, Jan (referee)
In recent years several factors changed the importance of the Arctic in international relations. Firstly, the rapid melting of Arctic ice cover opened potential access to vast natural resources within the Arctic Ocean seabed. It is estimated that the Arctic may contain one quarter of world's undiscovered reserves of oil and gas. Secondly, the water ways along the Russian and Canadian northern coasts became ice-free, although so far just for few days every year. Should the Arctic Ocean continue to melt, then in several decades the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage could become navigable for greater part of the year. This would shorten the journey distance from Europe to Asia by as much as forty percent, thereby cutting travel times and shipping costs. Finally, as the Arctic does not belong to any single country, there has been an increasing interest among the Arctic rim states, which have been working on delineating their maritime boundaries in order to ensure their territorial claims. This process has proceeded in accordance with the international legal framework as established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Coastal states are entitled to a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around their coastline. However, should they be able to prove...
|
|
|
The role of nuclear weapons in the 21st Century U.S. security strategy
Smetana, Michal ; Hynek, Nikola (advisor) ; Karásek, Tomáš (referee)
The present diploma thesis aims to compare the approach of the Bush and Obama administrations towards the role of nuclear weapons in the United States security strategy. The author focuses at the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) reports from 2001 and 2010, employing a detailed comparative analysis of their respective content as well as their implications. The analysis concentrates at broader conceptual issues as well as very concrete steps related to specific elements of the United States strategic arsenal. The author of the thesis argues that the current political discourse which attributes a nearly revolutionary character to the approach of the Obama administration to the United States nuclear policy does not fully match the actual dimension of change between the NPR of 2001 and 2010. In fact, the evolution of the United States nuclear strategy maintains its own dynamics in many aspects. Additionally, the present diploma thesis also tries to analyze both documents within the context of the evolution of the United States nuclear strategy since the 1990s which allows the author to identify the shifts as well as the patterns of continuity in the US nuclear policy in the post-Cold War period.
|
|
|
Social and cultural adaptation of the cuban immigrants on the czech milieu
Kaucká, Tereza ; Halbich, Marek (advisor) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee)
This work deals with the immigration of Cubans to the Czech Republic, their life in the Czech Republic and especially their social and cultural adaptation to the Czech milieu. The aim is to find out the reasons why Cuban migrants leave their country of origin and why they come to the Czech Republic. It goes on to describe the way how the individual respondents integrate to the Czech milieu, what helps them to adapt and what is difficult for them. The subject of the research are the Cuban migrants in Prague who came to the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia) before the 1989 and keep coming up to the present day.
|
|
|
Global Economic Outlook - February 2017
Česká národní banka
The February issue of Global Economic Outlook presents the regular monthly overview of recent and expected developments in selected territories, focusing on key economic variables: inflation, GDP growth, leading indicators, interest rates, exchange rates and commodity prices. In this issue, we tend to explore analytically the effect of (un)conventional monetary policy measures on shadow interest rates in the euro area and the USA. Based on our estimates, we show in this article that the effect of monetary policy measures on shadow rates differs depending on whether they were aimed at stabilising financial markets or further easing monetary conditions. We also indicate how the effects of measures taken by central banks can change depending on the current level of financial stress.
Fulltext:  PDF; PDF
|
|
|
Role technologických změn na příjmové nerovnosti ve Spojených státech
Deskoska, Elena ; Vlčková, Jana (advisor) ; Žamberský, Pavel (referee)
This thesis examines the impact of the technological change on the income inequality in the United States of America. This is done by integrating theoretical and analytical findings about the channels through which technological change affects income inequality.The research is based on century-long income inequality data sets. However, it prioritizes the study of the income inequality in the years between 1970s and 2010s, as this period marks the kick off of the IT technologies and the globalization in the USA. Furthermore it includes an analysis of the role of globalization on the income inequality in the USA. It also accounts for the rest of the inequality triggers that are resulting from the political and economic structure of the country. Lastly it gives a prediction about the future state of the U.S. labor market and wages given the impact of the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
|
|
|
United States and Latin America: The U.S. foreign policy and the need for a new direction
Torres Roldan, Alba Lorena ; Maslowski, Nicolas (advisor) ; Durrmeyer, Sébastien (referee)
No other region in the world has been more intervened by the United States than Latin America. An increasing interdependence between both in terms of trade, security and energy has grown along with a new reality. New political currents in Latin America have favored to recover the sovereignty and self-determination of their countries, while gaining independence from the United States preferences and mandates. The aim of this paper is to analyze the historical approach of the U.S. foreign policy to Latin America since 1945 as well as the implementation of them, with the purpose of evaluate the current scenario. A rhetoric vs reality approach is conducted showing the need for a more coherent U.S. foreign policy both in the economic and the security agenda.
|
guest ::
