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Comprehensive immigration reform suspended: Lessons from the U.S. Senate 2004-2010
Švajda, Michal ; Kozák, Kryštof (advisor) ; Calda, Miloš (referee)
The M.A. thesis "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Postponed: Lessons from the Senate 2004- 2010" elaborates upon the causes hindering in the years 2004 to 2010 the adoption of a comprehensive immigration reform in the United States of America. The main goal of the thesis is to assess the consequences of the polarization of the American political scene on the immigration reform and to evaluate the party divide on the matter upon the floor remarks made by the members of Senate Committee on the Judiciary taking in account the differences in between the 109th and 111th Senate. The focus on the Committee on the Judiciary is justified by the role played by its members in the drafting process of particular reform proposals. The scope of the polarization of the Committee is assessed upon the aggravated means attributed to the most dominant narratives used by the senators. The remarks used in the evaluation are addressed in the context of the most significant contemporary factors influencing the polarization of American political scene as well as under the light of the development surpassing the domestic affairs.
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United States and Europe: the causes of the origins and decline of the regional hegemony strategy
Přikryl, Pavel ; Plechanovová, Běla (advisor) ; Karásek, Tomáš (referee) ; Kovář, Martin (referee)
American policy towards European integration process has always seemed equivocal: on one hand it actively supported and encouraged the process, but on the other hand it tried to contain some specific European ambitions and steer the process in a desirable direction. The objective of the thesis is to offer a possible explanation of the long-term US policy towards the European integration and European region in general. The dissertation presents a hypothesis that the American policy towards Europe since the Second World War until current times can be explained within the theorethical concept of "regional hegemony strategy". The concept builds on neorealist and neoliberal interpretations of hegemony, which are applied to the process of formulation of American grand strategy. It identifies a set of independent variables effecting the resulting strategy and operationalizes the expected strategy into particular goals. The empirical part of the dissertation then tests the established hyphothesis in two ways. In the first part it analyzes the identified independent variables and tests the causality betwen their historical evolution and evolution of the American grand strategy, especially in relation to the European region. In the consequent parts, it focuses on the American policy towards the European integration...
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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...
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Pakistan: Key Factor for American Involvement in Afghanistan (during presidency of George W. Bush)
Snášel, Filip ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Anděl, Petr (referee)
American relations with Pakistan went through various ups and downs from being allied during the Cold war to imposing sanctions in last decade of the twentieth century. After 9/11 attack on World Trade Center and Pentagon Pakistan quickly joined the United States in the War on Terror. In my thesis I analyze positions and influence of Pakistan during invasion to Afghanistan. and seven next years of the Operation Enduging Freedom during George W. Bush administration. At first I concentrate on historical experience of Pakistan and development in the area before american invasion to Afghanistan. I also surveying terrorist movements on Pakistani soil, which are important for later development and are connected to Pakistani secret service ISI. ISI tried some years after 2001 to maintain friendly relations with Taliban and other terrorist groups along Afghan - Pakistan border, but terrorists, basically anti-system movements, wanted to establish in Pakistan and Afghanistan states constituted as Islamic emirates. President Musharraf under pressure of forthcoming events and the United States understood that supporting Taliban is no longer sustainable policy and decided to act against terrorist groups home in Pakistan. This move however triggered suicide bombings and massive uprising which hit in 2006/2007...
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United States Soft Power- Using Free and Open Media to Bolster the Afghan Democracy. Radio Azadi -A Case Study
Smoot, Taylor Grant ; Žídková, Markéta (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
Since the US-led invasion began in October 2001, the United States has spent $440 billion on military operations in Afghanistan. Afghanistan still suffers from widespread corruption, ineffective government agencies, daily attacks taking place by both US-led forces and the Taliban - not to mention that 4 million refugees remain dislocated around the countryThe United States declared political objectives in the country are to -disrupt, disable, dismantle al- Qaeda in Afghanistan, to prevent it from using Afghanistan and Pakistan as a base to attack the United States. The U.S. and its military officials feel the best way to achieve this is by building a functioning Afghan Government that can secure its populations, protect its borders, keep Al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan and create a democratic social culture. For them to achieve this it is going to take a generational effort and billions of dollars. With the war entering its tenth year with no clear-cut victory in sight, the US-led forces will either have to leave Afghanistan due to enormous cost and domestic political pressure, or refocus its allocation of resources and redefine its objectives. The best way the U.S. will be able to leave Afghanistan but still help sustain and create a working stable and effective democratic government is through the...
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Comparison of integration of Italian and Mexican immigrants in the United States of America
Veselková, Eva ; Kozák, Kryštof (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
Eva Veselková, Bakalářská práce, 2012 Abstrakt Porovnání integrace italských a mexických imigrantů ve Spojených státech amerických Mexičané představují nejpočetnější a zároveň jednu z ekonomicky nejzaostalejších přistěhovaleckých skupin současných Spojených států amerických. Podíl osob mexického původu na celkové populaci se přitom podle demografických ukazatelů bude ještě výrazně zvyšovat. Kombinace těchto faktorů činí otázku integrace Mexičanů ve Spojených státech velmi aktuální. Tato práce ji zkoumá prostřednictvím komparace se starší skupinou přistěhovalců - italskými imigranty, kteří do Spojených států přišli mezi lety 1890-1930. Cílem práce je zjistit, zda a jak se liší integrační potenciál současných mexických a někdejších italských imigrantů. Práce vychází z předpokladu, že integrační potenciál je u těchto skupin určován především jejich ekonomickou situací a sociální mobilitou. Jádrem práce je proto porovnání sociálně ekonomické situace italských imigrantů a jejich dětí se sociálně ekonomickou situací mexických imigrantů a jejich dětí, včetně porovnání jejich mezigenerační sociální mobility. Práce porovnává rovněž vztah, resp. předsudky americké většinové společnosti vůči italským a mexickým imigrantům. Na základě komparace sledovaných kritérií dospívá autorka k závěru, že integrační potenciál...
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The role of nuclear weapons in the 21st Century U.S. security strategy : comparation of documentation Nuclear Posture Review from the years 2001 and 2010
Smetana, Michal ; Hynek, Nikola (advisor) ; Karásek, Tomáš (referee)
The present 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 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.
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American opposition to the Vietnam war
Vítek, Tomáš ; Anděl, Petr (advisor) ; Smetana, Vít (referee)
This thesis deals with antiwar opposition during the Vietnam war. It contains interval between the 1950s and the year of 1968, from the movement for nuclear disarmament to the end of presidential tenure of Lyndon B. Johnson. The biggest stress lays upon interval between 1965 and 1968, thus the conflict itself. Thesis examines the roots and main representatives of antiwar movement, whether they were individuals or organisations. Furthermore it briefly summarizes situation in Southeast Asia and follows subsequent growing of american military presence. In the next part it describes escalation of the war and simultaneous emergence of antiwar movement. In the part of 1965 till 1967 it observes not only the development, spread and establishment as social current of the movement, but also inner and outer conflicts and its interconnection with civil rights movement. It examines the methods, which were used by the movement and also its relationship tomajor society. In the last section it draws attention to the year of 1968, which profoundly changed the perception of the Vietnam war. In addition, it analyzes the impacts of august Democratic convetion in Chicago on the antiwar dissent. In the end it draws the perspective after 1968.
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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...
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Geopolitical impact of China's search for energy on the Indian Ocean and South China Sea
Rodd, William ; Hrishabh, Sandilya (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
This thesis examines the geopolitical consequences of China's search for energy resources on the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. It provides a brief outline of the energy situation of the world as a whole, specifically how it is becoming a more globalized and singular market. This change is occurring at the same time as a pronounced shift away from the traditional measurements of 'power' towards 'softer' more subtle definitions. There is a brief section outlining the geopolitical teachings of Alfred T. Mahan, specifically how he advocated seapower primarily for the purpose of providing the stability and security necessary for trade. Chinese analysts have been embracing the teachings of Mahan, but also interpreting them in a way that justifies the naval buildup Beijing has been embarking on in recent years. The paper briefly looks at the potential sources that China could turn to meet its energy needs, but concludes that it will have to rely on oil for the foreseeable future. It then attempts to define overall Chinese interests, specifically how nearly all of these relate somehow to energy security, thus underlining the importance of this topic to leaders in Beijing. The last half of the work delves into a geopolitical analysis of the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, and how militarization in the...
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