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Dubová, Kateřina ; Horák, Slavomír (advisor) ; Brisku, Adrian (referee)
The topic of this bachelor thesis is the clash of old and new traditions of Islam in post-Soviet space, using the example of the Pankisi Gorge. This phenomenon occurred there in the 1990s. The new traditions had significant impacts on Muslim societies in the post-Soviet space and the Islam that these societies traditionally practised. These impacts include, for example, the cultural, social and security aspect. The aim of this thesis is to analyse these consequences using the example of the Georgian Pankisi Gorge, where traditional Sufism and the newly introduced Salafism have clashed. The primary method used in the thesis is the case study method. The thesis generalizes the findings about the Pankisi Gorge to the whole post-Soviet space. The text also uses the method of analysis of secondary sources and primary sources in the form of interviews with Pankisi residents. These interviews were conducted by the author in March 2024. The result of this analysis is that the new traditions of Islam cause mainly cultural transformation of Muslim societies, to a lesser extent they are the cause of social changes in societies and to a lesser extent they are a security threat. In the security sphere, the new traditions of Islam are a threat if they are practised in their radical form.
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To what extent is Georgia free in shaping its geopolitical orientation: the case study of Russian hybrid war in Georgia
Kodua, Luka ; Brisku, Adrian (advisor) ; Horák, Slavomír (referee)
The paper examines the relationship between Russian influence in Georgia and the Georgian capability to freely orient itself geopolitically in the period from the Russo-Georgian war in 2008 to the present. The paper employs the concept of hybrid war in order to analyse Russian influence in Georgia. This concept is put into the Russian and Georgian context in the beginning of the introductory chapter. At the same time, Georgian European integration is taken into account as a central motive of Georgian politics and is often referred to when examining Russian influence. The first research chapter analyses in detail Russian military influence, economic influence, informational and political influence, and then the role of the media and Georgian Orthodox Church is highlighted. By these means, Russian influence is often aimed precisely at Georgian efforts to integrate into the Western structures. The second analytical chapter analyses the Georgian ruling party Georgian Dream, its recent stance towards Georgian European integration and its controversial relationship with Russia. The thesis concludes that Russian influence is significant in most of the above-mentioned areas, and therefore Russia has a great potential to influence Georgia's geopolitical orientation.
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Comparative analysis of the regimes of Adnan Menderes and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the impacts of the military coups on their reign.
Jordán, Roman ; Brisku, Adrian (advisor) ; Kubát, Michal (referee)
1 Abstract In several public appearances, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has claimed the legacy of Adnan Menderes, describing him as a martyr of democracy who was the first to oppose Kemalist rule in the country and vowed to complete his mission. The aim of this work is to verify how legitimate is this comparison of Erdoğan to the first freely elected prime minister of modern Turkey, Menderes, by means of a comparative analysis of both seemingly different regimes. At the same time, both regimes faced military coups, the legitimately elected DP government fell, and Menderes was executed, while Tayyip Erdoğan's regime fended off a coup attempt and further consolidated its power over the country. The secondary goal is to compare the causes of these military coups, what factors decided the different fate of the two politicians and to briefly evaluate the consequences. This diachronic comparison provides possible insights for understanding the preferences of the Turkish electorate and the specific dynamics of politics there. In the introductory part, the theoretical framework is defined, in which key concepts are presented, which will be used in the subsequent comparative analysis. In the case of populism, democracy and the theory of authoritarian and hybrid regimes, these concepts are first introduced in general and then...
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Analysis of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh 2020
Sedláček, Ondřej ; Horák, Slavomír (advisor) ; Brisku, Adrian (referee)
The bachelor's thesis analyses the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that took place in 2020. Coexistence between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in the region has become almost impossible after the conflict of the 1990s. Azerbaijan's occupation of internationally recognised territory and the subsequent stalemate over the future of Nagorno-Karabakh led to renewed military escalation. The thesis focuses in particular on the role of the two main allies of each actor in the conflict and the impact on the resulting geopolitical position in the region. On the Armenian side, the role of Russia and for Azerbaijan the support of Turkey. The aim of the thesis was to identify how the position of Russia and Turkey in the region changed after the abovementioned military conflict. The sector method was used as the initial method for this analysis and the Copenhagen School of Security Studies was the inspiration. In this thesis, the influence of the states under study was examined in each sector. Furthermore, taking into account the outcome of the war, the recognition was reached that Turkish influence in the region has significantly increased and will continue to play a key role in the future.
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Czech Mythology for an Anglo-American Audience: Tomáš Masaryk's Campaign for Recognition in the West, 1914-1918
King, Corey ; Matějka, Ondřej (advisor) ; Lorman, Thomas (referee) ; Brisku, Adrian (referee)
This research analyzes Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk's use of Czech national mythology in his efforts to secure Anglo-American support for an independent Czechoslovak state during the First World War. Convinced that the fate of the Czechs and Slovaks would be determined in London and Washington, he deemed it crucial to convince both nations of the importance of his program prior to the war's culmination. His propaganda on both sides of the Atlantic relied heavily on mythological arguments from the Czech past to present his case. This research seeks to illuminate how historical narratives can be adapted for different audiences and mobilized to achieve political aims by examining Masaryk's approach. Through an analysis of his various speeches, journals, and memoranda produced for the Anglo-Saxon nations, this study posits that Masaryk utilized the 'golden age' and 'dark age' of Czech and Slovak history as a conceptual framework to illustrate the compatibility of the Czechs with the West, the feasibility of a renewed Czechoslovak state, and the vilification of the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. Furthermore, it deduces that Masaryk's mythology differed in how it was expressed, emphasizing strategic concerns for the British and adopting a more moralistic strategy for the Americans.
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Migration and Development: Impact of Remittances from Europe and Russia on Armenia
Strnadová, Marie ; Svoboda, Karel (advisor) ; Brisku, Adrian (referee)
- English Migration, transnationalism and remittances are phenomena that receive a lot of attention in social sciences. As part of remittances, this attention is amplified by their economical impact on the economies of entire countries. My thesis is devoted to the social influences and impacts of financial remittances on families and entire communities. The work deals with how individuals, families or entire communities are influenced by financial aid sent by one or possibly more family members from abroad. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews, the work examines the effects of remittances and the "dependency syndrome" on them. In its first, theoretical part, the thesis explains the key concepts with which it will deal - migration, transnationalism, diaspora remittances - and whose effects it will subsequently examine in the analytical part based on semi-structured interviews. The data is processed on the basis of qualitative approach, which allows sufficient analysis and insight into the issue. The conclusion of the work reflects the knowledge obtained from the interviews and the perception of migrants and their family members about the effects of remittances and, consequently, the remittances' "dependence syndrome".
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Transitional Journalism as a Practice in the Balkans: Media coverage analysis of the Kosovo-Serbia Conflict
Weizman, Jakob ; Brisku, Adrian (advisor) ; Dimitrov, Michal (referee)
Bibliographic note Weizman, J. (2023). Transitional Journalism as a practice in the Balkans media coverage: analysis of the Kosovo-Serbia conflict, 114 p. Master thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Supervisor prof. Adrian Brisku, Ph.D. Abstract Serbia and Kosovo have been under conflict since the beginning of the 1998-99 Kosovo war, when Serbia carried out ethnic cleansing against Kosovo-Albanians, leaving over 12,000 dead and almost a million displaced. Since then, Kosovo has declared itself independent since 2008, however, Serbia refuses to recognize its breakaway province. In the past 25 years, the media in Kosovo has undertaken a role that is different from that of a traditional 'Western' journalist.' Journalists undergo efforts to contribute further to the de-escalation of the conflict and deliver justice to the victims. Transitional journalism (TJ), as a newly emerging research agenda in the Western Balkans, seeks to uncover how media has affected, and been affected, by the ethnic lines and scars stemming from the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s, such as in Kosovo. Transitional journalism, as a product of weak institutions and failure to deliver justice, is further identified empirically in this dissertation, through a mixed-method...
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Seeking Reconciliation between Georgia and Abkhazia: The Bottom-Up Approach since 2008
Salát, Patrik ; Brisku, Adrian (advisor) ; Horák, Slavomír (referee)
The diploma thesis deals with the reconciliation process between Georgia and Abkhazia after 2008. It focuses on the bottom-up approach to reconciliation and its potential for the transformation of protracted and unresolved conflict. As bilateral negotiations at the political level between Georgia and Abkhazia have been stuck since 2006, this approach may be the only tool to disrupt the current status quo. Nevertheless, the research results show that this potential is quite limited in Georgia. The current discourse about the conflict that supports the status quo is related to ethnic identity and is also supported internationally. Middle-range leaders who are a significant part of the civil peace process between Georgia and Abkhazia have attempted to disrupt this discourse. Still, even their willingness to compromise is limited by a myth-symbol complex. Moreover, participants in peace projects are not homogeneous groups that aim to disrupt the current discourse. The research results show that reconciliation outside the state level has contributed at least to the preservation of negative peace because its participants mostly avoid stereotypes, do not feel negative emotions towards the other side, and reject violence as a tool for conflict resolution.
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Bulgarian National Identity in Macedonia, 1870 - 1878
Tiholov, Ivaylo ; Šístek, František (advisor) ; Brisku, Adrian (referee)
This thesis examines the question of the Bulgarian national identity in the historical-geographical region of Macedonia in the period between the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate and the Eastern Crisis (1875-1878). Macedonia remained on the periphery of the Bulgarian national religious movement, which meant that the processes of national maturation took place there at a slower pace and simultaneously with the growing foreign influences: Greek, Serbian, and Catholic. Therefore, the thesis explores the intercommunal relations among the Orthodox population of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. The aim of the text is to look into how the Bulgarian Exarchate, as a subordinate to the Ottoman Empire institution, attempted to influence the Bulgarian national identity in Macedonia. This happened in several different ways, because the Exarchate was responsible for the spiritual issues among the local Orthodox population as well as for some secular ones, including the educational activities. This thesis uses the methods of content analysis and triangulation of memoirs, newspapers, letters, and diplomatic documentation to present the problem posed in the title in its entirety. As a result, it is found that both the local Bulgarian population of Macedonia incited the activities of the Exarchate and the...
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