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Interests of the United States and Canada in the Artic
Vargová, Žaneta ; Bečka, Jan (advisor) ; Šír, Jan (referee)
The Northwest Passage is a potentially navigable seaway in the Arctic that is delimited by the Beaufort Sea in the west and the Buffin Bay in the east. As the Arctic ice cap melts further each year, the Passage may become navigable in the medium term. This brings to light many important questions and problems closely linked to the Passage's legal status. This thesis first maps the different reasons to deal with the problem and focuses on Canada as the state to be potentially most affected by the Passage's use. Canada takes the view, that the Northwest Passage are internal waters and the U.S. and the EU, that it is an international strait. The work probes the approaches to determine the status in compliance with the international law as they were claimed chronologically. However, the work stipulates the legal solution is not the only one imaginable and can even be potentially harmful to Canada. Therefore, the next part of the thesis deals with mapping them. A political solution on the international level is offered arguing that cooperation should be established in the region to safely and peacefully use the potentially navigable Passage. The last way to solve the situation lies in national policies as Canada has historically dealt with the issue internally several times. Some of its efforts have also been...
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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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Arctic as a regional security complex. An application of regional security complex theory to the Arctic region
Košatková, Iva ; Weiss, Tomáš (advisor) ; Karásek, Tomáš (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with the Arctic geopolitical region from the perspective of one of the most influential regionalist concepts in the modern IR theory and international security studies - the regional security complex theory developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver from the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute. The main aim of the thesis is to examine whether such a specific geopolitical region as the Arctic could be analyzed from the perspective of this theory and defined as a regional security complex with a unique security dynamics and an intense interconnection of major processes of securitization and desecuritization. This research question seeks to suggest a theoretical and analytical tool for studying the specific regional dynamics of the Arctic, and alternatively identify shortcomings of the theory in confrontation with the case and propose possible theoretical modifications. The diploma thesis concludes that the Arctic can be classified as a regional security complex in terms of Buzan's and Wæver's theory, although as an emerging one with rather weak securitization interconnections yet with a big potential to develop into a strong and dynamic security complex. The application of the Arctic case to the theory however showed that there is a need for some theoretical modifications to make...
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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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Emise skleníkových plynů ve vztahu k mikrobiální aktivitě a obsahu živin arktických půd
HAJŠMANOVÁ, Klára
The aim of this study was to understand the link beween greenhouse gasses emissions (CH4 and N2O) microbial activity and nutrient content in soil from different types of soil in Svalbard. Warming can cause release of large amounts of carbon and nitrogen in form of greenhouse gasses from soil into the atmosphere. This might strengthen the greenhouse effect and thus global climate change. We measured release of greenhouse gases from soil. At the same time, soil sampling was conducted at five different localities in August in the years 2014 and 2015. Soils were found to have low nutrient content and unfavourable C/N ratio to support vegetation growth. Areas were not a significant source of emissions of greenhouse gasses from soil to the atmosphere.
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(Arbo)viruses in high European Arctic
ELSTEROVÁ, Jana
Since an ongoing climate change covers strongly the polar areas. Higher temperatures and related climate parameters bring the emergence of new parasites and their pathogens to higher latitudes. This may influence zoonotic diseases including arthropod-transmitted diseases. The tick species Ixodes uriae, parasitizing seabirds in the Arctic, may transmit many pathogens including various arboviruses, Borrelia spirochetes and Babesia apicomplexans. In the study we diagnosed 89 individuals of seabird tick Ixodes uriae and searched for arthropod-borne viruses from the genera Flavivirus, Alphavirus, Orthobunyavirus, Phlebovirus and Orbivirus using genus-specific primers. Moreover we searched for presence of Borrelia spp. and Babesia spp. DNA in the ticks. All samples were negative after PCR amplification for all tested pathogens. The result signalizes that tested pathogens might not be present in such high latitudes of European Arctic. Though, the possibility of introduction of these pathogens may be observable in near future due to quick changing of the Arctic ecosystem with the rising of migration of vertebrate hosts including humans to the polar areas. It is though important to continue to study potential presence of pathogens in polar areas. We are working on increase of the number of tick samples to confirm the presence or absence of the tick-borne pathogens in the European Arctic.
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Challenges for International Relations in the Arctic
Štěpánek, Zdeněk ; Rolenc, Jan Martin (advisor) ; Trávníčková, Zuzana (referee)
This thesis deals with identification, analysis and critical assessment of challenges for international relations arising in the Arctic in connection with global climate change, which results mainly into decrease of the sea ice. Copenhagen School forms the primary theoretical bedrock of the thesis. The thesis maps the approach of different theoretical paradigms to the Arctic region throughout the history and on this basis it justifies the relevance of application of the concept of security sectors defined by Copenhagen School on the region. The thesis also maps the current governance mechanisms of the Arctic region as far as international law and institutional arrangements are concerned. The analysis of concrete challenges for international relations is structured according to the sectors of security defined by Copenhagen School. Thus, challenges in the environmental, societal, economic, political and military sectors are examined.
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The New Economic Potential of the Arctic
Denis, Tadeáš ; Kašpar, Václav (advisor) ; Machytka, Daniel (referee)
The aim of this Bachelor's thesis is to focus on the economic development of the Arctic region. It analyzes the natural conditions of the Arctic, the reasons and the consequences of the climate changes and their impact on potential economic development. It also describes the regional organization Arctic Council. In the next part the particular sections are presented: the production of oil and natural gas, arctic mining, shipping, fishing and tourism. In the last chapter results of an interview with a British geologist working at Danish climate center are brought up.
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The issue of the Arctic in contemporary international relations
Frýbová, Martina ; Kochan, Jan (advisor) ; Tůmová, Jana (referee)
The bachelor's thesis deals with the issue of the Arctic in contemporary international relations. First, there are described theoretical definitions of basic terms like Arctic and international regime , then the intrnational regime of the Arctic with its history and its comparism to the regime of Antarctic.In conclusion there are described declarations of Arctic states and their interests in the Arctic.
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Photoautotrophic microorganisms in the glacial ecosystem of Svalbard, high Arctic
STIBAL, Marek
Photoautotrophic microorganisms, i.e. cyanobacteria and microalgae, are ubiquitous in the glacial ecosystem of the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Their communities play significant roles in the ecosystem, including organic carbon production on the glacier surface and its supply to downstream environments, initiating microbial colonisation after glacier retreat and preparing proglacial substrata for further succession.
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