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Civil Society and the State in Post-Soviet Russia
Votavová, Vladimíra ; Svoboda, Karel (advisor) ; Kolenovská, Daniela (referee)
The bachelor thesis entitled The State and Civil Society in Post-Soviet Russia deals with importance, growth and function of civil society in Russia after 1991. At the beginning, the thesis strives to identify Russian regime type which is influenced not only by communist experience but also by the process of transition to democracy. Both the Yeltsin's and the Putin's administration are seen through the hybrid regimes theory that alleges that they are short of rule of law and limitation of powers. Those aspects essentially shape the form and players of Russian civil society that are characterized as well. The thesis is also concerned with different perception of the civil society concept in Russia and in the Western context; it describes particular dissimilarities and mentions differences of Russian culture and social discourse. In the end, the thesis is focused on president Putin's politics towards civil society, its incentives and consequences.
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The Rise and Fall of the Russian Oligarchy
Hájek, Jan ; Svoboda, Karel (advisor) ; Šír, Jan (referee)
The Abstract - The Rise and Fall of the Russian Oligarchy Jan Hajek The thesis "The Rise and Fall of the Russian Oligarchy" deals with the relationship between big business and the Russian state apparatus between 1987 and 2008. Since the beginning of the entrepreneurship in Russia during Gorbachev's reforms influential business structures started to develop. These structures then were able to dominate in the nineties a significant part of the Russian economy. That was partially caused by an unusually high degree of concentration of ownership structures growing under Michail Gorbachev's and Boris Yeltsin's governments. Important factors were as well natural resources as an easy source of income and the weakness of the state in creating and promoting a legal environment. Because of that some enterprising individuals were able to gain large fortunes that could be used to influence some policy decisions. Their influence peaked during the campaign for Yeltsin's re- election, when they even received some governmental posts. In that time the situation was closest to the oligarchy. Nevertheless within a short time their influence was reduced by mutual conflicts, the financial crises of 1998 and with Vladimir Putin becoming acting president at the end of 1999. Therefore the political influence of oligarchs was...
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Mečiar's Slovakia: Integration into NATO or the Alliance with Russia?
Strnadová, Martina ; Litera, Bohuslav (advisor) ; Svoboda, Karel (referee)
The primary objective of the Bachelor's thesis: "Mečiar's Slovakia: Integration into NATO or the Alliance with Russia?" is describe Slovak failed integration into North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the context of Slovak-Russian relations. The thesis confronts declared priorities in foreign and security policy with real actions of the government of Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar. The first part focuses on the Slovak Republic after its formation in 1993, while the Warsaw Pact disintegrated and Slovakia had to seek alternative security. The second part deals with the third Mečiar's government which was critical for the integration failure of Slovakia. The thesis confirmed, that intensive and high-standard Slovak-Russian relations and Vladimír Mečiar had an impact on that.
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Economic Reforms of Nikita S. Khruschev
Jasenčáková, Miroslava ; Svoboda, Karel (advisor) ; Litera, Bohuslav (referee)
The bachelor thesis "Economic Reforms of Nikita S. Khruschev" analyzes the process of the Soviet economy during 1953-1964. It focuses on agricultural reform. Major emphasis is insisted on so-called seven-year plan from 1959-1965. For clarification of context of the paper, it includes events since the beginning of early thirties. The main goal of these reforms was to attain a level of U.S. agricultural production. During the seven-year plan, the increase of production was designed for 70%. Finally, the realization of this idea failed, partly because of the negative impacts of the reforms from 1958. This study aims to analyze the reasons of the collapse of Soviet agriculture during the seven-year plan and uncover a proportion of system faults. The thesis also examines the contradiction between the stated goals and reality.
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Gaidar's reforms
Horáček, Pavel ; Svoboda, Karel (advisor) ; Litera, Bohuslav (referee)
This bachelor thesis diserts on the topic of economic reforms in Russia in the year 1992 and the role of the creator of the reform plan Yegor Gaidar. The emphasis is put on the explaining of context of the reforms. Thesis explains especially historical context in the meaning of clarifying the endeavour after the economic reforms in Soviet Russia at the end of the 1980's and the political context of the assembly of Gaidar's government. Thesis mentions different approaches to the trasformation from plan to market economy and the legitimacy of choosing the shock therapy as the right attitude in the case of Russia. As a conclusion thesis mentions why Gaidar's reforms can be considered successful and what was the role of Yegor Gaidar.
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Causes and possible consequences of the end of U.S. dollar excusivity on oil markets
Zukerstein, Jaroslav ; Kozák, Kryštof (advisor) ; Svoboda, Karel (referee)
The United States are today the most indebted country in the world. However, they do not face the distrust of financial markets as some European countries. Washington, until now, could afford rapidly growing and de facto risk-free debt thanks to the exclusive position of the U.S. dollar on oil markets and the petrodollar recycling system. With the implementation of the new common European currency, however, the dominant position of the dollar on oil markets came to the end, important oil producers, including OPEC members, turned away from the U.S. currency, so the sustainability of the current, unusually favorable system for the Americans, is questionable. Bachelor thesis entitled Causes and possible consequences of the end of U.S. dollar exclusivity on oil markets reflects the unprecedented influence of the United States in the international monetary system which they controlled through the oil business, it presents the risks and benefits of petrodollar recycling, it analyzes the effects of changes on oil market, it assess the importance of oil bourses that explicitly reject the U.S. dollar and in the conclusion, on the basis of information and experience from the era when the dollar was backed with oil, it answers the question whether this system, maintained by force and controversial alliances,...
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Russia and Kaliningrad Region: Solving of exclave issues in the years 2000-2001
Kadlec, Vladimír ; Švec, Luboš (advisor) ; Svoboda, Karel (referee)
Diploma thesis "Russia and the Kaliningrad Region: A Solution to the Exclave Problems in the Years 2000 - 2010" deals with the exclave problems of the Kaliningrad oblast, a Russian exlave on the Baltic Sea coast, and how they were solved at the beginning of the 21st century. The thesis first presents a brief outline of the historical development of the examined region - East Prussia and Kaliningrad Oblast until 1991. Subsequently, it deals with exclave problems in the 1990s. The main part of this work examines in detail exclave problems after the year 2000. It firstly deals with economic issues. Subsequently it focuses on the discussion regarding a possible change of the status of the Kaliningrad Region within the Russian Federation. The work also shows how the issue of transit through the territory of the European Union was solved. Eventually it will address the military issues. This thesis uses the theory of enclaves, as prepared by Russian economist Yevgeny Vinokurov. This theory determines problems that are common to most enclaves and exclaves.
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Human Trafficking in Russia in European and international context
Pojman, Petr ; Kubát, Michal (advisor) ; Svoboda, Karel (referee)
In this work I deal mainly with tree aspects of human trafficking in Russian Federation. In the criminological perspective I focused on the process in which women become victim of human trafficking. Likewise, I am trying to characterize organized crime and principles of its operation in Russia. Both of these aspects are described in the context of security, political, economic and social situation in both the destination and source regions. Russia is due to its social, economic and geographical situation transit, source and destination country simultaneously. I specifically focused on international trafficking. National trafficking is more latent but it is mentioned in the context of international one. I deal with the situation of victims in particular contexts, which is uses by organized crime to obtain them. There is brief outline of their role in investigating of cases of human trafficking. The main theme of this work is a criminal organization. I especially deal with the ways in which criminal organizations are involved in illegal migration and trafficking women outside the territory of the Russian Federation. The work is conceived primarily as a description and analysis of the broader issues related to human trafficking in Russia, particularly in international and European context. Usually do...
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A comparison of the control over horizontal mergers in the EU and the USA with a special focus on advantages of a merger and the protection of an insolvent company
Svoboda, Karel ; Svoboda, Pavel (advisor) ; Zemánek, Jiří (referee)
A comparison of merger control in the EU and the USA focusing on efficiency defence and failing company defence This paper compares the interpretation of efficiency defence and failing company defence in horizontal mergers in the EU and the USA. The arguments for each were first introduced in the decisional practice of US antitrust authorities and then included in the Merger Guidelines. Over the years both types of defence have been used in US antitrust law. Harsh criticism of the prohibition of several mergers at the beginning of the 21st century led to the reform of European merger control. Among other things, the reforms introduced efficiency defence and failing company defence. Given the complexity of competition law and the many factors that influence it, several background issues must first be analyzed, such as basic economic theories of competition law, the economic grounds for mergers and the political background. After comparing the relevant written law, the case law regarding efficiency defence and failing company defence in both jurisdictions is described. In this way the developments of the doctrines are clearly visible. Subsequently the current situation is described by comparing the requirements set by written law and their interpretation by decisional practice. It was found that the...
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Discursive energy security : narratives and public relations in natural gas pipelines. Nabucco vs. South Stream case study
Khasabova, Alina ; Svoboda, Karel (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
The paper studies the theoretical and practical application of public relations to the geopolitical nature of international energy projects in order to expand our understanding of the energy sector's domination of the current political and social environments. More specifically, the paper analyses how energy companies that exhibit close links to the state are able to create and cultivate beliefs in the legitimacy of their exploitation of society's resources in pursuit of their country's national political interests. The focus of the paper is a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the competition for legitimacy between Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH and Gazprom's South Stream Pipeline. The paper analyzes the discursive competition between the two pipelines over existence in, and legitimate domination of, the European discursive space. It then compares constructed narratives to quantitative factors that shape the European energy market and technical and financial specifications of each pipeline on the basis of its ability to adequately meet European energy demands and enhance European energy security. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how Nabucco and South Stream have been able to overcome discursively their technical and financial shortcomings to become perceived as geopolitical tools in a...
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