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The New Zealand's Policy in the South Pacific from Geopolitical Point of View
Strnad, Michal ; Romancov, Michael (advisor) ; Sokol, Petr (referee)
This master thesis "The N e w Z e a l a n d ' s P o l i c y in the South P acific fr o m G e o p o l i t i c a l Point o f View" is focused on the role of the New Zealand in the South Pacific and the relationship with other countries in the given area. It briefly describes the history of the region - Polynesian and European voyages, the European trespass and their consequences on the evolution of the state New Zealand. It continues with the overview of the New Zealand's history until the World War II. Second part concentrates on the relationship between New Zealand and its dependencies - Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and Ross Dependency - and changes in the identity, which occurred during the last century in New Zealand society. The European identity has been slowly disappearing in favour of South Pacific identity. The last outpost of Europe is turning into the Polynesian country. The major topic of the thesis is focused on the South Pacific after the World War II. - it describes the process of decolonization and the number of problems related to its independence, the politics of "clean Pacific", the matter of migration and finally the regional organizations.
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Nagorno-Karabakh: Ethnopolitics and Geopolitics of Conflict
Ditrych, Ondřej ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
This diploma thesis focuses on the relationship between ethnopolitics (defined by a raised demand of political autonomy for a community delimited along ethnical lines) and geopolitics (spatial definition and pursuing of national interests, determined by power) in what is one of most serious conflicts in post-Soviet space - Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Structure of the thesis is dialectical. Firstly, it defines terms such as conflict, conflict resolution or security, which will be used in the rest of the paper. Then, the conflict is placed into a spatial context, be it in its physical/material or spiritual/historical dimension. An effort is made to contextually embed Nagorno- Karabakh into the region of South Caucasus - whose politics has for centuries been shaped by conflicting interests of great powers - and to present a detailed projection of the disputed territory; not merely that of Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but also that of adjacent raions, whose total area is almost double in comparison. The main argument of this section is that the value of Nagorno-Karabakh rests not in the material realm - a dispute over "scarce resources" - but rather in the spiritual one, for is is perceived by the parties to the conflict as a "territorialization of national memory", or a constitutive element...
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The region, regional policy of the European Union and enlargement 2004
Býma, Petr ; Romancov, Michael (advisor) ; Hnízdo, Bořivoj (referee)
The thesis deals with a region as a basic building unit of the regional policy of the European Union, describing the formation and development of the European regional policy as supranational one and therefore unique on a global scale. With the increasing regional policy budget (this policy being the second most expensive in the Union), the influence of regions proper is growing as well: they are becoming more independent and emancipated. In the running process of globalisation, regions with the highest added value seem to be the best off: innovative regions with qualified labour and a strong connection with the supranational business and information networks. Metropolises, or urban centres, are faring the best in the global competition. The role of these central areas is growing stronger. The task of the regional policy is to balance the differences between these richer, central areas, and peripheral, poorer regions. The enlargement of the European Union by adding ten new member states in 2004 has been accompanied by regional policy reforms as there has been a sharp increase in the number of less developed regions, i.e. those that are entitled to draw upon funds of the European regional policy. Opinions on efficiency of the said policy differ: its proponents see it as the main tool of regional convergence...
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Typology of Quasi-states
Riegl, Martin ; Hnízdo, Bořivoj (advisor) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
Subject of my diploma thesis is typology of quasi-states. I primarily clarify and explain the defnition of sovereign states. After that I focus on the definition of quasi-state, which is in its fundamentals a deviation from a sovereign state. I define four basic categories of quasi-states based on analysis of international community during the active presence of UN, which reflect missing attributes of gregariousness at individual quasi-states. These are not meeting the geographical (experiental) charakteristics of gregariousness, partial limitations or full absence of internal sovereignty, partial limitations or full absence of external sovereignty or limitation of both internal and external sovereignty. I section these four categories into further subcategories. These break up the quasi-states according specific characteristics in given subcategories. There is a general description of characteritical trait at each subcategory that belong into the subcategory. Subsequently brief analytical case studies are being produced for each subcategory. Their objective is to clcarify specific traits of each subcategory and substantiate the presumed typology I conclude that in the times of UN we can witness steep growth of sovereign states, which have been very weak already at the time of its establishment. This...
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The Legacy of the Japanese Pacific Empire within the Cold War
Janáková, Barbora ; Hnízdo, Bořivoj (advisor) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
From the early twentieth century, Japan has been central to any conception of the Asia-Pacific as a region. In the build-up to and during the Pacific War this found expression primarily in the abortive attempt to impose an economic empire by force. After 1945 Japan emerged as the most dynamic economic centre of the region within a strategic and economic order established by the United States. The idea of a 'Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere', an attempt to legitimize the Japanese military and political drive for supreme regional power over all the Asia-Pacific in the 1930s and the early 1940s, was launched in early 1941, and signalled Japan's further expansion to the south after the capture of Indochina. Apart from the military and geopolitical aspects of Japanese territorial expansion southwards, the creation of a regional sphere under Japanese supremacy was intimately linked to Japan's growing need for raw materials following the rapid industrialization in the Meiji and Taishō eras. The 'Co-Prosperity Sphere' may be said to have been the first modern attempt to create regional political and economic integration in the Asia-Pacific. It is noteworthy that the geographical extension of the 'Co-Prosperity Sphere' in the early 1940s comprised almost exactly the same region as the Japanese economy came to...
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Economic regionalism on the example of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Ponomarenko, Anastasia ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
In the work on the example of Shanghai Cooperative Organization we try to discover what impact execute globalization and regional integration on the world policy, how such associations promote the economic environment of the involved countries and what benefits could be obtained through such cooperation in the view of safety. Region of Central Asia has its peculiarities because of the differences in culture, mentality and economic development that should be taken into consideration at planning of the joint activities. The potential of SCO is defined, first of all, by participation in it of such countries as Russia and China. Both of these states are interested in stable political and economic development of the Eurasian region, and ensuring its safety.
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The Regional Policy of the EU, The Position of Regions in the EU, The Representation of Spanish and Czech Regions to the EU
Grimová, Kateřina ; Romancov, Michael (advisor) ; Říchová, Blanka (referee)
Although the European Union is one of the richest parts of the world, there are striking internal disparities of income and opportunity between its regions. The entry of 10 new member countries in May 2004, whose incomes are well below the EU average, has widened these gaps. Regional policy transfers resources from affluent to poorer regions. It is both an instrument of financial solidarity and a powerful force for economic integration. The European Union allocates more than a third of the budget to the reduction of the gaps in development among the regions and disparities among the citizens in terms of well-being. One of the current priorities is to bring living standards in the new member states closer to the EU average as quickly as possible. The increasing budget of financial instruments for regional help is connected with appreciation of European regions and its role in the politics field. The last years have showed the tendency of strengthening the position of particular regions. Today regions are stronger partners than national states for lot of institutions. It is likely that this tendency is still intensifying after the enlargement in the year 2004. The role of the representation of particular regions in the capital of the EU has gained the importance for the previous reasons. In the current period...
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Ukrainian Crisis – The Most Frequent Myths and Lies
Think-tank Evropské hodnoty ; Central European Policy Institute ; Víchová, Lenka ; Svoboda, David ; Svoboda, Karel ; Soukup, Ondřej ; Pazderka, Jozef ; Romancov, Michael ; Naď, Jaroslav ; Janda, Jakub
THE AIM OF THIS DOCUMENT In connection with the domestic Ukrainian crisis and the external Russian aggression towards the country, we are witnessing a surge of disinformation, falsehoods and facts taken out of context which are to conceal or bias the image of reality. The disinformation thwarts a serious debate on the issues which are crucial for the Ukrainian context and which the Czech public needs to know about. This is why the European Values Think-Tank addressed the prominent Czech and Slovak experts to create this document. Its main goal is to refute the most frequent myths and falsehoods about Ukraine and focus the Czech debate on the real state of affairs. We strongly believe that this document will help various persons (journalists, commentators, editors, analytics, politicians etc.) to understand and shed light on the events in Ukraine. The text was written by a group of experts who have been interested in Ukraine for a long time and are really in touch with the country. The document does not speak in favour of any institution which the authors work for. The European Values Think-Tank is responsible for the content.
Fulltext:  PDF; PDF
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Political Aspects of Migration in Czech Republic and in Slovakia
Štefančík, Radoslav ; Klíma, Michal (advisor) ; Horváth, Július (referee) ; Drbohlav, Dušan (referee) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
The central hypothesis of this dissertation is based on the finding that, like in the countries of Western Europe under the influence of various circumstances, in the Czech Republic, too, there is a shift from the originally proclaimed multicultural concept of integration towards individual civic integration. The objective of the treatise is not only to verify the anticipated trend in the development of the migration policy, but also to seek causes of its modification. The formulation of a hypothesis that would apply equally to the Czech Republic and Slovakia was more complicated. While the formation of migration policies in the area of integration of immigrants into an autochthonous society enjoys a longer tradition in the Czech Republic -- also due to the higher number of immigrants -- in Slovakia it is in its beginnings so far. Even some of the recently adopted outcomes of public policy proclaimed the objective to implement the multicultural dimension vis-a-vis foreigners. The actual policies, however, bore witness to a completely different approach. The core hypothesis of this treatise has thus been complemented by a subhypothesis relating to the conditions of Slovakia: the multicultural dimension of the approach to immigrants in the past only existed at a theoretical level, and only partially. Given the recent adoption of the concept of integration policy, which is not based on the principles of multiculturalism, references to it represent a residual manifestation of the preceding non-systematic treatment of migration and integration in the outcomes of public policy. In real life, several steps hindering the application of this model's principles have been undertaken. Content analysis and diachronic comparative method applied on the documents under review show that there is a change occurring in the Czech Republic in the area of immigration policies. Whereas prior to the financial crisis the government would willingly employ foreigners, the impact of the crisis has led it to a restrictive immigration policy. Demonstrated was also a content shift in the approach to the integration of foreigners. As regards the formation of Slovak migration policies, the process of policy development proved to be more complicated to follow. Public policies in the area of migration and integration of foreigners since 2009 and the stance of the governmental bodies towards them have been largely indifferent. The Czech Republic clearly displays, over the course of the past several years, a shift from the communitarian/multicultural model toward the individual civic integration. The command of the language is considered to be the main vehicle of integration. The Slovak Republic declared multiculturalism only as a remnant of the non-systematic treatment of integration policies, with virtually nothing changing in the real life of immigrants. There had been practically no integration policy in Slovakia up to 2009. Similarly to the outcomes of public policies, the shift in the perspectives on migration away from multiculturalism has occurred in the political programs of Czech political parties as well. The issue of migration in Slovakia has so far not affected election campaigning. Slovak political parties do not have a clear idea of the possibilities of related to the integration of immigrants.
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