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Comparison of Approaches of Eastern Partnership in the Cases of Ukraine and Georgia.
Kerbach, Jiří ; Jeřábek, Martin (advisor) ; Földes, Kristián (referee)
The diploma thesis Comparison of Eastern Partnership Approaches in the Cases of Ukraine and Georgia aims to reveal similarities and differences in the Eastern Partnership policies in the monitored countries. The basis of the comparative case study is therefore the analysis of two state actors. Methodologically, the work is based on Foreign Policy Analysis, which covers a wide range of political actors and factors that affect the foreign policy of states. The theoretical concept that will support the analyzed results will be the Theory of Rational Choice, which was chosen for the appropriate defensibility of the steps and attitudes of individual actors. As a second theory is used social construction of European identity, which is aimed mainly on cultural and ideological factors. Before writing the diploma thesis, the following hypothesis was established: Within the Eastern Partnership exist differences in the intensity in sectors of cooperation between Ukraine and Georgia. Based on this hypothesis, a research question will be answered: Exist differences between the sectors of cooperation carried out within the Eastern Partnership between Ukraine and Georgia? The following findings answer this question. The main differences between Ukraine's and Georgia's foreign policy towards the European Union are...
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Slovakia's accession to the EU: A return to the west or a seized opportunity?
Salíni, Michal ; Földes, Kristián (advisor) ; Kubátová, Hana (referee)
This year, 18 years have passed since the moment Slovakia became a member of the European Union. Currently, Slovakia is a long-time member of the Union, however, this status has not always been self-evident. At the turn of millennia, Slovakia was in the middle of an accession process, which was marked with success, as well as problems. This bachelor thesis focuses on the accession process of Slovakia to the European Union in the years 1994-2004. Using theoretical principles of constructivism and post-structuralism, the author is analysing nominalisation and predicalisation of the European Union in Slovak public discourse based on two logical principles - logic of expected consequences and logic of appropriateness. Furthermore, this thesis focuses on which of these logical approaches was prevalent in the public discourse. Author works with materials from political and media sphere from a given period. The first part of the thesis focuses on the theoretical and methodological background necessary for the analysis. In the following part, author describes historical context of the period. In the empirical chapter, author analyses chosen relevant materials. In the last part of the thesis, author provides answers to research questions.
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Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in EU Development Policy: From Goals to Human Rights or Vice Versa?
Bezděková, Petra ; Martinková, Viera (advisor) ; Földes, Kristián (referee)
The main topic of this thesis is the role of economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights in the Development Policy of the European Union (EU). The aim of the thesis is to find out through critical discourse analysis, whether the ESC rights are implemented as human rights or rather as goals. The theoretical framework consists of two approaches to the understanding of ESC rights. First, equal position of ESC rights and civil and political rights as human rights, all universal, indivisible and interconnected. This approach is represented by Amartya Sen. Second approach denying the ESC rights such an equal position because to their achievement, certain economic resources are needed, and those are not distributed equally in the world. Therefore, they are rather goals to be achieved than human rights. This approach is represented by Aryeh Neier. The outcome of this thesis is a different position of ESC rights and civil and political rights in the EU Development Policy, despite the EU being legally bound to equal promotion of all human rights by international law and its own official documents. Tools for human rights promotion under the policy are mainly focused on fulfilling civil and political rights. ESC rights are rather implemented as practical, complementary means to economic growth and poverty...
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Politicization of the European Union in Czech media
Lukáš, Filip ; Parízek, Michal (advisor) ; Földes, Kristián (referee)
This master thesis is focused on understanding the process of politicization of the European Union in Czech media between the years 2003 and 2017. The theoretical framework used to observe the politicization process is based on postfunctionalist theory of European integration which assumes that the governance of the European Union has been become publicly contested, i.e., politicized, which consequently constrained the process of European integration. To analyze the process two politicization indices that considered the visibility, i.e., salience, of the European Union and the divergence of opinions i.e., polarization, were created. The source of data were annual Eurobarometer surveys and 6750 articles from three Czech quality newspapers. The hypothesized drivers of politicization assumed increases of politicization during authority transfer moments such as Czech Republic joining the EU in 2004 or Lisbon treaty adoption in 2009; and during crisis events such as was the Eurozone crisis and refugee crisis. The results revealed that the overall level of politicization was low, and it was only during the hypothesized events of Czech-EU admission, Lisbon treaty and refugee crisis that the politicization level increased significantly.
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Germany's foreign policy. Is Federal Republic of Germany still a "civilian power"?
Janardhan, Bindu ; Jeřábek, Martin (advisor) ; Földes, Kristián (referee)
The thesis aims to study Germany's foreign policy methods to answer the research question if Germany is still a civilian power. The presented work aims to establish that Germany's foreign policy methods and decision-making process are guided by civilian power theory's normative principles and values, thereby making Germany a civilian power. The author will test this through case study analysis on four diverse case study topics that explore Germany's foreign policy methods over a period of time, thus analyzing the evolution of Germany's foreign policy methods furthermore, if this evolution displays continuity or change of modification in Germany's foreign policy methods. The thesis studied Germany's role in Eastern European enlargement, non-military engagement specifically in combat operations in Iraq, military engagement and combat operations in Afghanistan, and Germany's engagement in the developmental policies for Africa. The formulated hypotheses of the four case studies stand to be correct. Germany's foreign policy methods are guided by civilian power norms and principles since its unification until now under the leadership of three different chancelleries. Because of this, Germany is still a civilian power and adapts to the challenges faced at the time and modifies its methods only after...
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Changing international environment and the new threat. A chance for European strategic culture?
Bartík, Lukáš ; Martinková, Viera (advisor) ; Földes, Kristián (referee)
Changing international environment and new threats. Opportunity for a European strategic culture? The international environment is going through a period of major upheaval. Terrorism, the growing influence of emerging powers and authoritarian regimes, and the weakening of multilateralism contribute to the gradual deterioration of the world order and simultaneously represent a serious challenge to Europe. In the aftermath of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the vulnerability of the European security architecture became especially apparent. This thesis aims to unfold how these changes were perceived and responded to by two major countries of the European Union: France and Germany. The main focus is on the perception of these changes, the security challenges and the relationship with Russia and its confrontational policy towards Europe and the surrounding areas. Furthermore, it deals with their perception of the changing foreign-policy priorities of the United States and the deepening of European cooperation in the field of security and defense policy. The analysis of the German and French discourse depicts their attitude and then compares their approach to the changing international landscape, thus answering the question of the compatibility of their respective strategic thinking.
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On its way to membership? EU-Moldova relations after the Association Agreement
Kráľová, Diana ; Martinková, Viera (advisor) ; Földes, Kristián (referee)
The European Union is one of the most significant international actors whose institutional character and specific conduct of foreign policy make it an interesting object of study. It creates robust policies and programmes to frame relations with both the Member States, as well as with neighbouring countries. The European Neighbourhood Policy, and the Eastern Partnership specifically, is one such example. Even though the ENP was formally designed as a policy of non - membership, the communication of the EU's stance tends to refrain from framing it that way. Consequently, this creates a situation in which the neighbouring state continues to aspire to become a member of the EU, despite lack of reform progress, in hope of a "membership delay". The thesis addresses this discrepancy on the example of the relationship between the EU and the Republic of Moldova after the signature of the Association Agreement by interpreting its development and by assessing how the EU uses its normative power to Europeanize Moldova. Keywords Normative power, Europeanization, EU-enlargement, the European Union, the Republic of Moldova
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Permanent Structured Cooperation and European Intervention Initiative as Preludes of a Single European Army
Urban, Patrik ; Kučera, Tomáš (advisor) ; Földes, Kristián (referee)
The master's thesis focuses on the potential of two recently launched initiatives, The Permanent Structured Cooperation and The European Intervention Initiative, to serve as preludes of the single European army. Both initiatives shared high expectations as vehicles for a relaunch of integration in defence domain in Europe, but do they really move the efforts in this respect forward? To study the two projects, we establish a unique theoretical measurement of defence and security integration, based on the realist concept of the alliance and constructivist concept of the security community. We then ask what constructivist theoretical model for the study of defence integration fits The Permanent Structured Cooperation best, and analogically, which archetype is the most suitable for The European Intervention Initiative. Based on the theoretical underpinnings, we carry out an empirical analysis of both initiatives to find out what novelties they bring to the area of defence. We focused mainly on their governance, institutional fabric and funding. Special attention was paid to varying level of pooled sovereignty. The thesis is built on the content analysis of primary sources and where appropriate on relevant secondary literature.
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EU Development Aid: Idealism or Pragmatism?
Phamová, Xuan Mai ; Knutelská, Viera (advisor) ; Földes, Kristián (referee)
My thesis looks into development into why European Union provides development assistance. My hypothesis is that it is becoming more pragmatic throughout the period 2014 to 2019. I begin my work with introduction into the topic, literature overview and presentation of the hypothesis. In the second part, I present theoretical framework of constructivism and methodology of motive analysis. Motive analysis is a method developed for studying motives via discourse. I have defined 7 motives in a coding book, which will be analysed in the speeches of EU representatives, concretely European Commission's Presidents and High Representatives / Vice-Presidents responsible for European External Action Service. In the third pat, I provide brief overview and context of EU's aid policies. In the last, analytical part, I analysed the speeches and identified each motives one by one, I have looked into development of motives throughout time and came to conclusion that most of time, all motives are prevalent behind development aid, only their occurrence and importance slightly changes, depending on internal and external factors. It can be seen thant while in 2014 the aid was slightly more tilted towards idealism, in 2019 the aid motives slightly shifted towards pragmatism.
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