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Taming Russian oligarchs:the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos
Matoušek, David ; Šír, Jan (advisor) ; Svoboda, Karel (referee)
The Russian oil industry has long been one of the most important and valuable oil markets in the world. During the Soviet era, the oil industry was subject to strict state control, but the privatization of industry in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union led the industrial companies to be handed over to several businessmen who later became Russian oligarchs. In my work I examine the rise and fall of the most prominent member of the early group of oligarchs - Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
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A Neoclassical Realist Analysis of the Russian Annexation of Crimea in 2014
Synczyszyn, Zenko ; Morgado Albino, Nuno (advisor) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
Neoclassical realism has the ability to advance our understanding of foreign policy responses through the recently designed neoclassical realist model. However as international relations have proven, a theory is not a concrete motionless design. Improvements can be made and the fluidity of theory allows social sciences to adapt and advance. This thesis introduces developments to neoclassical realism by stating that the individual factors and intervening variables hold varying degrees of importance that alter between each foreign policy decision. There is no overarching set of instructions for 'foreign policy', rather an adaptable model that takes into consideration the geopolitical arena, the state and the statesman. The case study chosen for this thesis is the Russian foreign policy response to annex Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Analysis and comparisons of the variables resulted in three factors standing out as most significant. The most important influence within the systemic stimuli was the nature of the strategic environment and the window of opportunity that arose in Crimea due to Ukrainian political and military instability. The intervening variable leader images proved to be the decisive factor, as the consolidation of power by Vladimir Putin allowed the annexation to be completed...
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Systemic separatism of Chechen Republic
Kovbuz, Mikhail ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Horák, Slavomír (referee)
Systemic separatism of Chechen Republic is a thesis dedicated to a relationship between Chechen republic and Russian Federation. This thesis is analyzing how far independence of Chechnya on Russia currently reaches, while also comparing the current state of Chechen affairs to what it was during Russian-Chechen conflict and the period of Chechen, de facto, independence in between those wars. Four chapters of this thesis analyze Russo-Chechen relationship from five different points of view - political, economic, personal and military- security. These is also a fifth chapter dedicated solely to historical context, which is a key to understanding development of Chechen Republic since the fall of the Soviet Union. Throughout all chapters an in-depth analysis of possible future development of the republic may be found.
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US-Russia Relations and the Mass Media: The Representation of Vladimir Putin in the American Media
Alikina, Valeriia ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Ditrych, Ondřej (referee)
Russian-American Relations and the Mass Media Securitization of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in the American Press by Valeriia Alikina This thesis is focused on two issues relevant to Security Studies and Political Science: relations between the Russian Federation and the United States of America, which are currently experiencing yet another decline, and problematics of political journalism. It reviews the process of securitization of Russia through speech acts in the mass media of its historical opponent, the United States. First, the thesis provides a theoretical framework, securitization theory, introducing its main principles. To prove that the process of securitization indeed occurs, the method of discourse analysis is employed. The third chapter provides background information on the relations between the Soviet Union/Russia and the United States since the end of the World War II; this information is completed by the role mass media had in their affairs. The next chapter frames the issue of propaganda, elaborating on the meaning behind this concept, the "fake news" narrative, and the idealistic idea of media objectivity. In the fifth chapter, the case study, two processes of securitization are reviewed. The first one is the American mainstream media, namely The New York Times and The...
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Systemic separatism of Chechen Republic
Kovbuz, Mikhail ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Šír, Jan (referee)
Systemic separatism of Chechen Republic is a thesis dedicated to a relationship between Chechen republic and Russian Federation. This thesis is analyzing how far independence of Chechnya on Russia currently reaches, while also comparing the current state of Chechen affairs to what it was during Russian-Chechen conflict and the period of Chechen, de facto, independence in between those wars. Four chapters of this thesis analyze Russo-Chechen relationship from five different points of view - political, economic, personal and military- security. These is also a fifth chapter dedicated solely to historical context, which is a key to understanding development of Chechen Republic since the fall of the Soviet Union. Throughout all chapters an in-depth analysis of possible future development of the republic may be found.
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Analysis of the current opposition in Russia
Mašková, Denisa ; Dvořáková, Vladimíra (advisor) ; Klokava, Anfisa (referee)
The thesis focuses on analysis of the current opposition in Russia. Attention is mainly focused on the conditions for the existence and operation of the opposition created by the government's garniture, including the purposeful changes of the valid legislation and its influence on the state of the present opposition. Furthermore, the work aims to map key opposition parties and find out what the character of the current opposition is, whether it offers a liberal-democratic alternative to the existing regime or not. Last but not least, presented public opinion polls investigate whether there is room for opposition in society and what the society's attitude toward opposition is. This thesis is a contribution to discussion in the context of the nature of the current regime in Russia and the real possibilities for its change in the near future, because analysing the opposition is important for understanding of the system and its functioning, both in terms of conditions for its functioning, its embedding in society and ideological focus.
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Non-Systemic Opposition in Russia 2011-2016
Koutník, Jan ; Svoboda, Karel (advisor) ; Šír, Jan (referee)
The diploma thesis examines why did the non-systemic opposition in Russia between 2011 and 2016 fail to reach any significant success. Even though during 2011 and 2012 Russia witnessed mass anti- government protests the non-systemic opposition was not able to enforce any relevant change in the regime, obtain representation in the state institutions or induce larger public dissatisfaction with the regime. The study analyses problematic internal features of the non-systemic opposition (lack of public support, coalition potential, election programs and campaigns, party financing) and external repressive means of the Vladimir Putin's regime against the opposition (legislation, direct confrontation, judicial trials, elections and means of rigging). The thesis offers a complex insight into the functioning of the non-systemic opposition in Russia in the observed period and accentuates the authoritarian character of the Russian regime. Based on the evaluation of the key variables the study concludes that the repressive policies of the regime cardinally affected the weakness and fragmentation of the non-systemic opposition which moreover was not able to overcome the internal conflicts and gain broader public support.
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The role of the United Russia in political system of the Russian Federation
Vondráčková, Dominika ; Příhoda, David (advisor) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
With the beginning of new millennium the political atmosphere in Russia started to change significantly. The number of political parties dramatically decreased and in 2001 was formed soon to be strongest party - the United Russia. Since then the overall centralization of the system had started - it happened to be more difficult for smaller parties to reach the Duma mandates, media are influenced more than before and NGOs with certain political opinions are forbidden to operate. In this environment exists the United Russia - the party of power - not a platform for discussion, which a political party should be, but a tool of Kremlin, which reminds more a center of elites, power and means. In the beginning of the text are described competitive and non-competitive party systems. The current party system of Russia is there acknowledged as a party system with pragmatic- hegemonic party. Further the text follows the evolution and changes of the party system in Russia, the electoral reforms and overall changes since 1999 to the present. Then the ideology of Russia in international environment is discussed as well as the ideology of the United Russia. The text shows, that even though the United Russia declares an ideology, in reality it could be found only scarcely.
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Who's Afraid of the Lurking Bear: The Resecuritization of Russia in the Post-Crimean United States National Security Discourse
Prushankin, Keith ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Ditrych, Ondřej (referee)
This thesis presents a discourse analysis of American perceptions of Russia in their historical and contemporary context. Through the linguistic construction of security offered by the Copenhagen School of Securitization, we can trace the socio-political development of Russia as the threatening other in the American discourse. This thesis has demonstrated the consistency of linguistic devices in the American Russia discourse from the 18th century to the Crimean Crisis, and has identified specific linguistic packages which securitizing actors unpack according to their preferences and goals in a given situation. This thesis also demonstrates that the resecuritization of a previously desecuritized object may occur through the use of preexisting discursive devices that play on existing elements of the national consciousness. Keywords Resecuritization, Securitization, United States, Russia, Socio-Political Discourse, Crimean Crisis, Copenhagen School, Obama Administration, Vladimir Putin Range of thesis: 121 pages, 34,048 words, 240,229 keystrokes.
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