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The Geopolitical Significance of the Bering Strait Region in the 21st Century
Raková, Alena ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Bečka, Jan (referee)
As Arctic warms twice as fast as the rest of the world and the polar ice-cap melts, the strategic importance and geopolitical significance of the Bering Strait as the only maritime gateway between the world's fastest-developing and dynamic regions, the Asia Pacific and the Arctic region, will steadily grow. The climate change triggered the reduction of the Arctic ice-cap, which results in increased maritime traffic activity as new shipping routes are becoming more viable and mineral resources more accessible. This has a tremendous impact on the region as it opens it to economic development but at the same time it puts strain on its fragile environment. The goal of the paper is to affirm that the geopolitical significance of the Bering Strait is increasing and will increase in the near future. The work examines the causes of the Bering Strait region's rise, its characteristics, challenges and opportunities together with the assessment of major regional actors' interests and approaches towards the region. Next, paper focuses The emphasis is put especially on the role of the United States and on their attitude toward the Bering Strait region. It therefore pays attention namely on the US policy and goals in the region, and on the implications the Strait's growing global importance has for the United...
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Chinese Foreign Policy in Central Europe
Havrda, Vojtěch ; Handl, Vladimír (advisor) ; Sehnálková, Jana (referee)
This paper analyzes new phenomenon of regionalism in Chinese foreign policy in Central Europe. After introducing the theoretical concept of Chinese regional foreign politics, 16+1 cooperation platfrorm is described. The regional platform refers to a mechanism of cooperation between China and sixteen Central and Eastern European countries, which was formed after the Warsaw summit took place in 2012. For the purpose of the research, the region was narrowed to the Central Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary). The paper aims to find out whether Chinese foreign policy in Central Europe has been succesfull, which will be measured by analyzing by China's ability to achieve its declared goals. These were made public at the Warsaw summit in 2012. Moreover, using five different criteria (mutual political treaties, institutionalization of the bilateral relations, frequency of high political meetings, attendance of representatives at the 16+1 platform summits and the size of mutual trade), the paper describes the dynamics of bilateral relationships between China and the Central European countries. After analyzing which declared goals had been achieved and looking at the dynamics of the bilateral relations, the paper concludes that Chinese foreign policy in Central Europe has not been succesfull,...
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China's Outward FDI in Central and Eastern Europe
Li, Wenjie ; Svoboda, Karel (advisor) ; Sehnálková, Jana (referee) ; Korosteleva, Julia (referee)
China's emergence as one of the largest FDI source country has attracted global attention. There are many researches on the determinants and characteristics of China's outward FDI, but there are only few researches about China's outward FDI in CEE countries. Based on the dataset, which comprises data of 11 CEE EU member states over the period 2003-2014, this thesis investigates the determinants and patterns of China's outward FDI in CEE-11 countries by using a panel data technique. The regression results reveal that for the whole sample period, culture proximity and existing trade relation have significantly positive impacts and China's FDI in CEE-11 is negatively associated with the institution environment of host country. And the results also demonstrate that determinants of China's FDI in CEE-11 change over time. Besides, political relation is also an important influential factor and policy makers should put more effort to strengthen the bilateral cooperation.
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Disfranchising Prisoners in the U.S. - New Means of Segragation?: Case Study of Commonwealth of Virginia
Pánková, Tereza ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Kozák, Kryštof (referee)
The thesis Disfranchising Prisoners in the U.S. - New Means of Segregation?: Case Study of Commonwealth of Virginia deals with the equality of the criminal justice system in Virginia. The goal of this thesis is to determine, whether the criminal justice system in the Commonwealth of Virginia is used to discriminate against minorities and if the laws and practices are creating a group of second-class citizens out of African Americans. The first chapter will be devoted to the data and history of disenfranchisement, the second chapter will deal with the consequences of a felony conviction, such as the loss of the right to vote, loss of employment and loss of social benefits and parental rights. In the last chapter of my thesis, I will analyze the possibilities of a future reform and its main sources, such as court decisions, the ratification of a constitutional amendment to the Virginia Constitution, and gubernatorial action by the Governor of Virginia. The findings of this thesis show that the criminal justice in Virginia is used to discriminate against African Americans and that the laws and practices are creating a group of second-class citizens out of African Americans.
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China's Accession to the World Trade Organization: Case study of U.S.- China trade disputes
Carhounová, Kristýna ; Fiřtová, Magdalena (advisor) ; Sehnálková, Jana (referee)
The subject of this bachelor thesis is the case study of U.S-China trade disputes under the World Trade Organization (WTO) after China's accession to the WTO. Firstly I will briefly outline the US-China relations from 1949 to 2001. I will then focus on China's incentives of becoming a part of the multilateral system and the impact of China's accession to the WTO on US-China trade. Second part concentrates on the development of foreign trade between the US and China as well as on the structural problems of Chinese economy that prevents China from doing smooth business with the US. Appreciation of China's currency renminbi, huge trade deficit of the US, complicated access to the Chinese market and many others are all among the problematic areas. Even though China has pledged to fulfill a whole range of commitments, it doesn't always abide by the rules. Some of the cases mentioned often cause friction between China and its trading partners, including the US, which are often brought to the Dispute Settlement (DS) under the WTO. Following a brief outline of the DSM, I will then focus on the China's evolution in the Dispute settlement system. During the first years of China's membership in the WTO, the members rarely challenged China before the court. However, after the end of China's five-year...
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NRA and Its Influence on American Politics
Havlíčková, Marta ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Čapinská, Barbora (referee)
The topic of this thesis is the National Rifle Association (NRA), an interest group in the USA. The aim of the thesis is to analyze NRA's influence on American politics. To achieve that it describes NRA's membership, organization, public image and financing. It describes NRA's functions and political goals and analyzes the method it uses to achieve them on the U.S. federal level. The thsis concludes that the NRA sees any regulation of the ability to buy, keep and bear arms as a breach of constitutional rights. It states that any further regulation is a step towards the creation of a national arms registry and towards weapons confiscation. It succesfully prevents stricter regulations by efficient voter mobilization, lobbying and financial contributions to election campaigns. Although it claims to be bipartisan, it mainly contributes to Republicans.
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Richard Nixon and His Attitude towards Communism between 1950 and 1960
Bandžak, Richard ; Bečka, Jan (advisor) ; Sehnálková, Jana (referee)
The main objective of this paper is to confirm, or reject the thesis stating that Richard Nixon had exploited the issue of Communism to favor his political goals. And that he had adjusted his views on Communism according to the contemporary political and social situation. Richard Nixon was a significant Republican politician who had become well known warrior against Communism after the World War II. He, for example, had built his senatorial campaign of 1950 on anti-communist rhetoric attacking his opponent. Strong anti-communist rhetoric was together with his loud criticism of Truman administration a typical characteristic of Nixon. During his vice-presidential office he began to abandon his aggressive tactic. If one considers his later presidential initiative supporting the Sino-American rapprochement, it is worth analyzing whether his anti-communist statements were used in pursuit of his own political goals, or based on an ideology.
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American Cities in Post-Industrial Reality: Detroit and Pittsburgh
Černá, Iveta ; Kozák, Kryštof (advisor) ; Sehnálková, Jana (referee)
The thesis studies possibilities of restructuring of post-industrial cities by closely following and comparing the restructuring efforts of two cities located in the U.S. Midwest, Detroit and Pittsburgh. It studies the consequences of globalizing economy on the area of so- called Rust-Belt, as well as the impacts of the federal urban policies on the older industrial cities located in this area. Through deindustrialization of their economies, both Detroit and Pittsburgh suffered from similar problems, such as depopulation, unemployment, factory closure, and urban decline. Therefore to evaluate the level of success of the cities' transformation, the thesis compares their demographic and economic development. The last two chapter of the thesis provide assessment of Detroit's and Pittsburgh's transformation efforts by focusing on the urban planning and economic restructuralization strategies.
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Pivot to Asia: What, Why and Whither? The Not So New Obama's Asia Policy
Liška, Jan ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Bečka, Jan (referee)
Pivot or Rebalance to Asia-Pacific is a foreign policy launched by the Obama administration at the end of 2011. The essence of the Pivot is that the U.S. recognizes Asia-Pacific as the most dynamic and fastest growing region in the world that will decide the future of global politics and that the U.S. - as a Pacific power - is going to be right at the center of the action. The policy is best described as a set of initiatives ranging from strengthening the U.S. bilateral ties in the area and rebalancing some of the U.S. military assets form other theatres Asia- Pacific to engaging the regional multilateral organizations and negotiating new trade deals - especially the Trans-Pacific Partnership - to foster the regional prosperity. The Pivot to Asia policy, is however, quite controversial as while it is welcome by some Asian countries, it is criticized by China that sees it as an attempt to contain its rise. The policy has now been in place for almost three years. It has evolved since its launch to be less conflictual towards China, however amid the continuing Chinese disputes with its neighbors over the maritime claims at China`s maritime periphery, some observers still question the efficiency of the policy. Moreover, with the continued defense budget cuts, many question that the U.S. is going to be...
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