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Peacekeeping forces as an instrument of enforcement of influence abroad: South Ossetia case
Müller, Matyáš ; Šír, Jan (advisor) ; Pondělíček, Jiří (referee)
The bachellor thesis deals with Russian use of the Joint Control Commission in South Ossetia by which they aim to preserve its influence in Georgia, that is being one of the post-soviet republics. The first part of the thesis is focusing on the historical context of this event, which includes the decription of the origin of the Joint Control Commission as well as what responsibilities and jurisdictions had an impact on the participating states of the commission. The second part of the thesis is presented as a case study of the RussoGeorgian war in 2008, where are shown specific examples of the Russian use of its peacekeeping forces, which were depoloyed to maintain the influence abroad. The thesis concludes by providing an outline that answers whether Russia managed maintain or even boost its power in Georgia by using the peacekeeping units.
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The Role of International Intervention in Ending the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina Focusing on NATO's Operation Deliberate Force
Doležal, Jan ; Žíla, Ondřej (advisor) ; Pondělíček, Jiří (referee)
A complicated civil conflict that was part of the process of disintegration of Yugoslavia took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the years of 1992-1995. The civil war, during which the warring parties received significant support from external actors, attracted a lot of attention internationally. The approach of the international community to the crisis developed significantly throughout the war. Initially, the strictly neutral peace and humanitarian intervention presented primarily by UNPROFOR did not have a sufficient mandate and was long ineffective in seeking a peace resolution. A major breakthrough in the international community's approach occurred during the summer of 1995 when NATO decided for the first time in its history to conduct a large-scale military campaign following repeated violations of UN Security Council resolutions. The demonstration of NATO's air power through the Operation Deliberate Force is often seen as the key factor in forcing the Bosnian Serb leadership to start the process of peace talks which eventually led to the end of the conflict. However, the primary objective of the operation was not to end the war itself, but merely to end the siege of Sarajevo and prevent attacks on other so-called safe areas under the auspices of the UN. Furthermore, Deliberate Force was...
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The Old South Memory: Remnants of the Civil War through the perspective of American reenactors
Volfová, Anna ; Pondělíček, Jiří (advisor) ; Perutka, Lukáš (referee)
This diploma thesis focuses on the role of the American Civil War memory in the American society today. It examines this phenomenon through the perception of American Civil War reenactors. The thesis analyses their opinions on the current issues that are linked to the history of this conflict - the omnipresence of the Confederate monuments and the Confederate battle flag in the American public space. It also explores the subject of the Southern identity, the role of the Confederacy in its formation and whether the ideas of the Confederacy are still present in the South today. It is necessary to understand the Southern mentality and how it is perceived by the rest of the United States, because the individual characteristics of the Southern identity are reflected in the current debates on the Confederate heritage. An idea that interconnects the individual chapters of the thesis is that the American Civil War memory is strongly influenced by the Lost Cause ideology and the overall mythologization of the conflict. While the Civil War reenactors' main motivation is to educate society about the conflict, their opinions are also mostly supportive of the romantic perception of the Confederacy.
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UNCLOS and the role of the United States in the South China Sea
Kaňková, Michaela ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Pondělíček, Jiří (referee)
This Master's thesis is focusing on why the United States of America never ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is analysing the prevailing arguments which were used in 1982, which led to President Ronald Reagan never ratifying the Convention. As well as why the same thing happened in 1994 when the United Nations agreed on an Update to the Convention. Then the thesis is focusing on crucial parts of the Convention, which are part of the arguments for or against the ratification of the Convention, as well as those which have a great influence on the American approach to the high seas. Furthermore, this thesis is trying to offer a current insight into the problematic of why the United States still did not ratify the Convention, despite the fact that they used the Convention as an explanation why they patron the high seas as well as the right of innocent passage. At the same time, the findings are then looked at from the perspective of the South China Sea, which is a region the United States monitor. This last part is attempting to do several things. First, it is explaining the issue of the South China Sea and the interest of the United States in it. Then it is looking at the way by which the United States try to promote their interests in the region on how the fact them...
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Women Strike for Peace against Nuclear Arms and the Vietnam War
Kunovská, Kristýna ; Pondělíček, Jiří (advisor) ; Tůma, Oldřich (referee)
This bachelor's thesis deals with a women's peace activist group Women Strike for Peace (WSP) and its opposition to nuclear arms and the war in Vietnam. It covers the period from 1961 when the group was founded to the early 1970s. WSP held an important position in the Cold War peace movement. Already at the beginning of its activities, WSP had support from many American women and media because of its decent, respectable behavior and emphasis on motherhood. WSP used gender stereotypes to legitimize its activities, claiming, for example, that women as mothers have the right to decide on nuclear arms testing, as there are plenty of harmful substances entering the atmosphere that affect children's health. Women used the same tactics also when their sons were taken to war due to conscription. However, in the second half of the 1960s, WSP protests and actions became more radical, resulting in increasing criticism from society. In my thesis I deal with WSP membership characteristics, tactics the group used to achieve its goals, important protests or other important activities that WSP conducted in connection with its dissenting opinion on nuclear arms and the war in Vietnam and on that basis. I describe the difference in approach to the movement, especially through archive news articles from various...
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Eisenhower Doctrine and the Middle East in years 1957 and 1958
Myslík, Martin ; Pondělíček, Jiří (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
With the Suez crises, according to American administration, was created a vacuum of power in the Middle East. This vacuum was in the eyes of the American government needed to be fill sooner, than Soviet Union and to isolate pro-soviet state, like Egypt and Syria. To this purpose, the Eisenhower doctrine was created, which should fought against international communism. Used method is the diplomatic history, bachelor's thesis provides outlook to shaping American foreign politics in 1957 and 1958 in the region of the Middle East and its application is comparing with the wording of the doctrine and also from the American view on decolonization. The author of the thesis, in conclusion, summarizes that doctrine was successful in intimidating Soviet union from larger engaging in region, but on the analysis of the use of the doctrine shows, that mostly the doctrine was used in the fight against Arab nationalism not against communism. Which was in contradiction with doctrine, which was supposed to fight only against communism. Keywords Eisenhower doctrine, United States, Middle East, international communism, Crisis of Suez. Cold war, dekolonization
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The Bay of Pigs and its influence on U.S.-Cuba relations
Jaroš, Milan ; Pondělíček, Jiří (advisor) ; Perutka, Lukáš (referee)
This bachelor thesis focuses on the Bay of Pigs invasion which had been an important part of the U.S.-Cuba relations in the 1960s. The period between the Cuban revolution and the Cuban missile crisis was marked by rapid deterioration of those relations. The thesis is set exactly in this time frame. The invasion was the outcome of the previous deterioration and Castro's victory became the reason for further escalation of the hostilities between the United States and Cuba. This thesis answers the question what decision-making process led to the actual execution of the invasion, what mistakes caused the invasion to fail, who is to blame for this outcome and what consequences did the American failure have on further evolution of the U.S.-Cuba relations. It analyses steps of the planning process and the influence of all the interested parties on this process. It reaches conclusion that the aggressive approach was implemented because of cold war circumstances and the communist threat, the American fear of losing their influence in the western hemisphere and personal ambitions of involved participants. The responsibility for the failure cannot be assigned to just Kennedy's decision making, the CIA's planning or poorly organized Cuban opposition because the fiasco resulted from all these things together....
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The Significance of the Soviet Espionage During Atomic Weapon Research
Gottwald, Antonín ; Pondělíček, Jiří (advisor) ; Litera, Bohuslav (referee)
in English This bachelor thesis has a title The Significance of the Soviet Espionage During Atomic Weapon Research. Its concern is the theme of Soviet atomic espionage in the United States of America before, during, and after World War II. The research question is the significance of the information stolen from the American atomic research by the Soviet spies to be used for the Soviet atomic research after the World War II. To answer the question, the American atomic research is described here together with methods and technologies developed here. The concrete spies, who infiltrated the Manhattan Project are concern of this thesis, too. The information they stole from the project helped the Soviet Union to create the atomic bomb only in four years, the scale of the espionage was large. One chapter is dedicated also to the Soviet atomic research. This chapter describes the circumstances and weaknesses of the Soviet research like the scepticim of Josif V. Stalin and the German invasion which precluded the research almost definitelly. Another part of the thesis is also analysis of the espionage system in the United States. This base in sufficient to answer the research question about the significance of the stolen information. The Soviet Union only needed to reconstruct the American methods with...
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