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Rhetoric of US Foreign Environmental Policy: Case Study of the Paris Agreement
Štěpařová, Tereza ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Fiřtová, Magdalena (referee)
The Paris Agreement represents a landmark international environmental agreement that received extensive political, journalistic, and academic attention, and the United States played a key role in the negotiation process. This thesis presents a comprehensive overview of determinants that can impact the U.S. approach to international environmental politics, and it focuses on a detailed discourse analysis of U.S. federal political elites' rhetoric on the Paris Agreement, comparing two time periods - the second term of the Obama presidency and the Trump administration. The analysis demonstrates a strong alignment of political ideology with partisanship, dividing the Democratic and Republican argumentation into rhetorical opposition, and proves the significant influence of the highly polarized two-party system on the U.S. environmental rhetoric. However, applying Putnam's two-level game framework, the case study also demonstrates that even Democratic politicians approached pragmatic rhetoric on topics such as the U.S. economy, economic growth, or U.S. leadership, and employed creative narratives that addressed the pragmatic concerns of the American public to gain support for their progressive foreign policy agenda represented by the Paris Agreement in the end result. The paper presents the rhetorical...
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An Endless War: A Comparison of Three American Presidential Administrations during the Afghan War
Seemann, Šimon ; Raška, Francis (advisor) ; Sehnálková, Jana (referee)
The bachelor's thesis "Infinity War: A Comparison of Three US Presidents' Administrations on the War in Afghanistan" analyses and then compares the policies of the administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump towards the war in Afghanistan, between 2001 and 2021. The focus is on the aspects that have made it difficult, even impossible, for the United States to try to build a strong state capable of functioning independently. The aim of the thesis is to create a comprehensive picture of how each administration approached the conflict in Afghanistan, how they acted, and what stood in the way of a successful ccompletion of the mission. Through a detailed look at all three policies, the thesis attempts to answer the stated research questions, to find out what are the main aspects of each administration's failure in the war in Afghanistan and define some similarities. The first three chapters of the thesis describe the visions, strategies and their subsequent implementation in the conflict. Each administration approached the conflict in a different way, which often shifted and changed during its tenure as the conflict evolved. The final, fourth chapter reveals the realities of the conflict in a different light, thanks to published government documents, and looks at the reasons that...
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Federal Police Reform Efforts During the Barack Obama and Donald Trump Administrations
Kraus, Daniel ; Mertová, Viktorie (advisor) ; Sehnálková, Jana (referee)
Policing is a highly controversial topic in the United States, with critics claiming that police officers regularly abuse their power and mistreat citizens, especially African Americans, with impunity. People of the opposite opinion believe that reports of police brutality are exaggerated and that accusations of widespread racism in the American police force are simply unfounded. The death of an unarmed African American man George Floyd in 2020 has partially revealed to the world how real police brutality in America really is - as well as how much this issue resonates in American society. During the riots, President Donald Trump was often compared to his predecessor Barack Obama, who faced a similar situation in 2014. and issued several comprehensive police reforms as a result. Trump was also forced to proceed with police reform in the tense situation. At the same time, Democratic lawmakers were drafting a more comprehensive and legislatively stronger police bill. This paper examines these federal attempts to reform American policing. Its goal is to analyse all of the federal police reforms that have occurred during the terms of these two presidents. The secondary aim of this thesis is to illustrate the differences in the approaches of the two presidents through this analysis.
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The Comparison of the U.S. Security Policy Measures in Relation to the DPRK's Nuclear Program Adopted by the Administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama
Vítková, Kateřina ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Anděl, Petr (referee)
The Comparison of the U.S. Security Policy Measures in Relation to the DPRK's Nuclear Program Adopted by the Administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama monitors the responses of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and their Administrations to the North Korean nuclear tests carried out in 2006, 2009 and 2013. It seeks to identify similarities and differences between these Administrations and prove the thesis that the steps taken by the United States under Barack Obama were in effect just as inefficient as those taken by his predecessor. The paper concentrates on the time period beginning with the situation before the first North Korea's nuclear test until the autumn 2014. The methodology includes a qualitative approach and comparison. The reactions are divided into several groups: rhetoric, strategic documents, legislation, economic aspects etc. In conclusion it notes that while the attitude of both Presidents and their Administrations was in certain aspects similar, number of factors that distinguish them might be indentified as well. Barack Obama focused more on the region of Asia. His attitude towards the DPRK appeared to be more balanced but it still did not lead to the coveted breakthrough in the negotiations.
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The Anglo-American "Special Relationship" in the Period of Gordon Brown's Government: the Case Study of Finding Solutions to Financial Crisis
Bábiková, Jana ; Váška, Jan (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
The central theme of the bachelor thesis is the phenomenon of the "special relationship" between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. The "special relationship" that is most often associated with cooperation in military and security, is applied on the field of economic diplomacy during the time of financial crisis and finding a solution to it. At first, the thesis argued whether it was possible to claim the "special relationship" in economic cooperation. Then it continued to argue, to what extend could the "special relationship" influence crisis-solution finding. Thesis used the examples of economic diplomacy before and during G20 leaders' summits as the most obvious manifestation of the role of the "special relationship". Another focus of the thesis is the period of Gordon Brown's government. Besides summarizing the events leading to finding crisis solution, thesis also describes the main events that happened and shaped the evolution of the "special relationship" during the period of Gordon Brown's government. Most of the thesis is, however, centered on the role of Brown and Anglo-American diplomacy in finding solution to financial crisis.
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The White House Presents: The Media Image of Barack Obama
Seidlová, Kristýna ; Jirák, Jan (advisor) ; Zezulková, Markéta (referee)
The diploma thesis The White House Presents: The Media Image of Barack Obama examines the media presentation of the President of the United States, Barack Obama, through the official media channel of the White House. Five video recordings of President Obama's speeches are analyzed with a focus on linguistic, visual and auditory sign systems with the use of the qualitative semiotic content analysis. Before the analysis itself, an explanation of theoretical terms related mostly to the representation of reality is provided. On these grounds the analysis is then approached as a description of different means of achieving media construction of reality, to which both the President himself and the White House Office of Communications contribute. This Office is in charge of the content of the above-mentioned channel. To broaden the context, general information about the functioning of the President's media communication is included. The aim of this thesis is an interpretation of the communication tools presented by the White House media channel and the analysis of their symbolic meaning in order to explicate the process of a specific media image of the President coming into existence. The approach to the analyzed content from the perspective of intercultural communication is also of importance. It must be...
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US Strategic communication towards Islamic state
Truchlá, Jana ; Beneš, Jan (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
The main topic of my bachelor thesis is illustration of public image and strategic communication towards ISIS of two US most recent presidents Obama and Trump. In the theoretical part of the bachelor thesis I will outline the basic description of the Islamic state as a terrorist aggressor and the threat of the West as opposed to US protective policy and leadership in the World Anti-Terrorist Coalition. In this part of thesis I would primarily try to depict the main concept of strategic communication, its forms and the differences between the notions strategic communication and propaganda. In the main part I will describe the activities and the ways of formulating US strategic communication actors to explain the individual steps during the war against ISIS for the relevant audience - US citizens. In particular I will concentrate on official political strategic communication of the US Presidents which I will demonstrate on the particular examples - presidential press conferences and releases. Among digital media, I will focus on using the Twitter social network as a phenomenon to implement diplomacy through tweets. The key point of the work will be a determination of the priorities of strategic communication in the timeframe of Obama's and Trump's term in office. Choosing this specific timeframe...
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Comparative analysis of the United States foreign policy towards Iranian nuclear program and its potential terrorist implications during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama (2001-2005/2012-2017)
Drozd, Michal ; Raška, Francis (advisor) ; Hornát, Jan (referee)
This thesis submits broader understanding of George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies in terms of their Middle Eastern policy, in particular the issue of Iranian nuclear policy. The main interest lies in an intention to conclude, which particular circumstances led the American governments to rethink their position towards the Iranian nuclear program, bearing in mind changes which took place in security, economic and foreign policy interests of the United States. The first chapter describes the theoretical framework upon which the entire thesis is based upon. The second chapter provides a short review on the MENA region, describing the most visible factors and issues form the very last years of the second administration of Barack Obama. The third chapter is based upon the research of the Iranian position in the MENA region, its potential, and what possibilities the U.S. government posses in order to contain Iran from spreading its influence. The next chapter deals with an issue of nuclear terrorism and its connections towards Iran, evaluation of possible nuclear terrorist menace and possibilities of so called "Dirty Bombs" usage. The fifth chapter is based upon the research of the first presidency of George W. Bush and the policies which were implemented after the terrorist attacks on 11...
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Barack Obama and Middle East
Černý, Ondřej ; Anděl, Petr (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
The thesis named Barack Obama and Middle East analyzes American foreign policy to-wards the countries of the Middle East region - Iraq, Iran and Israel. After two con-secutive terms of George W. Bush, new policies of the Obama administration are de-fined with the Middle East still in its centre. This paper answers three basic questions: What is Obama's desirable Middle East policy? In what aspects it is different from the steps of his predecessor? To what extent are the pre-election promises fulfilled? The commitments are defined from Obama's speeches and articles made during the peri-od of his candidacy and also from the recommendations of his advisors. The differen-ces between this planned foreign policy and the steps of George Bush are recapitula-ted in the next part. The third part explores the fulfilment of Obama's promises.
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The United States and Iran - The Iranian Nuclear Agreement
Rauvolf, Josef ; Zukerstein, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Hornát, Jan (referee)
The bachelor thesis "The US and Iran - The Iranian nuclear agreement" examines the history and circumstances under which the Iranian nuclear deal (JCPOAR) was created and puts its influence into the broader context of the geopolitical security environment of the Middle East. The bachelor thesis analyzes the main fields of American and Iranian interest in the region, with an emphasis on the situation in postwar Iraq and the temporary conditions under which these interests developed. Their end goal concluded that conflict was not the preferable option for both actors, focusing on the importance of preconditions, namely sanctions and Iranian internal dynamics of accepting the diplomatic means in dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue. It tackles the Iranian network of influence in the region and observes wishes and strategies of American President Barack Obama towards regional stability and the Iranian nuclear agreement. The thesis, in a broader sense, describes also the problem of nuclear nonproliferation and international multilateral diplomacy, contributing to a better understanding of the realities of the Middle East, its geopolitics, and the role of Iran and the US from 2003 until present day.
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