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Bitcoin and the world-systems theory: the case of El Salvador
Černý, Ondřej ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Fiřtová, Magdalena (referee)
This bachelor's thesis revolves around the acceptance of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador and the subsequent reactions from the international community, particularly the United States and the International Monetary Fund. Using the case of El Salvador as a study, the thesis seeks to explore a broader phenomenon concerning Latin America and the potential for Bitcoin to be the key for positive socio-economic transformation in the region. The theoretical part of the thesis delves into the concepts of dollarization and the governance of Bitcoin, in addition to the world-systems theory proposed by Immanuel Wallerstein. Subsequently, the thesis applies these theories to concrete facts and conducts an analysis. The timeframe for this research spans from September 2021, when Bitcoin was officially adopted as legal tender in El Salvador, until the end of 2022.
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A comparison of online news media framing of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict in Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. & China
Kwei, Quaye-Foli ; Van Puyvelde, Damien (advisor) ; Ó Beacháin, Donnacha (referee)
1 Title: A Comparison of Online News Media Framing of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine Conflict in Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. & China. July 2022 University of Glasgow ID: 2574393Q Dublin City University ID: 20109351 Charles University ID: 18329097 Dissertation Abstract The 2022 conflict between Russia and Ukraine that ensued after the former invaded the latter has received extensive media attention around the world. The news media's framing of the war ultimately has an impact on how its audience views the actions of the conflicting countries, their respective allies as well as other issues pertaining to the conflict. The online news media, due to its relatively easy and broad access, plays a key role in how the war is covered and framed. This study compares how major news websites in Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and China have framed their coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict between from December 2021 when Russia began to amass troops on its border with Ukraine, and the end of April 2022, when the war was still raging in Ukraine. The findings of this study indicate that the online news media's framing of the conflict within each country largely mirror their respective government's stated geostrategic interests regarding the war, particularly in terms of security, economics, energy supply and geopolitics. The...
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Manas Air Base and U.S.-Kyrgyz Relations
Nováková, Sabina ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Horák, Slavomír (referee)
The following thesis is a case study of the U.S. Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan. It addresses the significance of the base in the context of mutual U.S.-Kyrgyz relations after 2001. It aims to analyze the bilateral negotiations between the U.S. and the Kyrgyz on establishing the air base, its functioning, and eventually its closure in 2014. Among the research questions, it seeks to explain the respective positions of both parties, the motives behind their actions, and factors that influenced this negotiation process. The analysis shows that the extensive U.S. efforts to get and maintain access to the facility were driven by the necessity to secure transportation corridors to and from Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan, on the other hand, was primarily interested in financial benefits stemming from having an American base on its territory. The U.S. let local elites enrich themselves in connection with the air base revenues. Kyrgyzstan's internal instability also had a major impact on its stance towards foreign policy matters and the issue of the Manas air base in particular. The U.S. was a stronger player in this asymmetric relationship, but Washington often got into situations where it was being pulled by Kyrgyzstan's domestic developments, which effectively determined mutual relations. The analysis concludes that...
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United States Anti-Drug Policy in Colombia: Consolidation of the La Macarena Region as a Lesson derived from Plan Colombia?
Koutenská, Kristýna ; Raška, Francis (advisor) ; Kozák, Kryštof (referee)
The United States officially declared war on drugs in the early 1970s with the aim to stop the flow of illegal narcotics coming into the country. Not only did Washington enhance the domestic anti-drug policy, but it also strengthened the foreign anti-drug policy and launched an extensive campaign in Latin America, one of the major producers of drugs in the world. Chemical eradication and interdiction of drug-trafficking routes in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia led to a relocation of the cultivation of illegal crops to Colombia, closer to the laboratories. Thus, Bogota became the centre of attention for Washington. This bachelor thesis describes U.S. anti-drug strategies and highlights its limits, which influence the success rate of specific plans, in this case Plan Colombia and La Macarena Integral Consolidation Plan (PCIM). In 2000 Washington approved an ambitious Plan Colombia. One of its main objects was to reduce the production of cocaine in Colombia within six years. However, massive aerial eradication only led to a displacement of a large number of people and in the end the production of coca and cocaine even increased. The Colombia's National Territorial Consolidation Plan, more precisely the PCIM was supposed to put this situation right. The aim was to regain control over the municipalities that...
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The Development of the Czech Minority in the U.S. between 1850 and 2006
Housková, Štěpánka ; Horálek, Adam (advisor) ; Schovánková, Soňa (referee)
This thesis is focused on the Czech minority living in the U.S., which is currently the largest and certainly the most important Czech expatriate minority abroad. There is the historical view of the development of emigration to the U.S. from 1850 to present. The focus constitutes periods which are characterized as another reason for emigration as well as other numerical strength of emigrants. There is then discussed the issue of changes in the number of Czechs in the U.S. and changes in their distribution in various U.S. states. It explains why there are changes in the distribution. The main reason is the shift from agriculturally oriented migrants to immigrants seeking work in factories and finally more intellectual emigrants in the years after World War II. Furthermore, it is focused on three U.S. states (California, Illinois and Texas) which were chosen because of their specificity in relation to the Czech minority in the U.S. There is described in detail the history and current situation of the Czech minority and the current distribution of the Czechs in these states. Also it discusses some demographic and socio-cultural characteristics of the Czech minority in case of the three selected states.
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Australia and New Zealand within ANZUS
Šestáková, Michaela ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Bernard Thompson Mikes, Antonin (referee)
This thesis deals primarily with Australia and New Zealand within ANZUS. Using theoretical concept intra-alliance opposition, more precisely opposition for autonomy it compares factors which influenced different behavior of the members. New Zealand occupied opposition for autonomy against U. S. in 1980s, while Australia remained in conformal relationship guaranteeing security benefits. Factors, which could influence members, given by this thesis are foreign-policy, domestic-policy and system factors. Thesis examines evolution of member's bilateral relations with U. S. from mid 1980s and presents contemporary cooperation frame.
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Illegal immigrants in the U.S.: proposed solutions and their consequences
Hořavová, Tatiana ; Kozák, Kryštof (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
Tatiana Hořavová: Illegal immigrants in the U.S.: proposed solutions and their consequences ABSTRACT The problem of illegal immigration is one of the most pressing issues of USA's domestic politics today. The number of illegal immigrants currently present in the country is estimated to be around 11 million, and the inflow of new illegal immigrants seems unstoppable. Finding and applying the right solutions, however, seems to be highly problematic; this thesis will therefore try to analyze the reasons of such an impasse, and what could be expected in the discussion about this issue. The thesis, aside from a necessary introduction to today's immigration system and demographic characteristics of illegal immigrants, also contains an illumination of the reasons why illegal immigration is criticized. It focuses on four areas of criticism - legal, economic, cultural and security- related, and shows that arguments in the discussion about all these aspects exist for both sides of the debate - one that sees illegal immigrants primarily as criminals and a burden for America, and also the one that tries to defend illegal immigrants, and stresses their right to be treated humanely. The existence of two conflicting concepts pertaining to the approach to illegal immigrants in the USA is in this text further documented...
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Prison Privatization in the United States: The Limits and Consequences of the Transfer of Public Power into Private Hands
Kršková, Martina ; Kozák, Kryštof (advisor) ; Kucer, Maxim (referee)
The thesis Prison Privatization in the United States: The Limits and Consequences of the Transfer of Public Power into Private Hands analyzes selected consequences of prison privatization in the United States. Although the prison privatization in the US is considered a modern phenomenon, the private sector was involved in corrections from the very early history of the US. Therefore, the thesis introduces the history and philosophy of private sector involvement in corrections. The thesis then examines the factors that led to the decision to privatize prisons, namely overcrowding of prisons, other political factors, and so-called PIE-program that enabled interstate trade with prisoner-made goods. Further, it provides detailed statistics to illustrate the steep rise in the prison population. It also addresses the question of cost-savings and efficiency and it provides examples of specific factors that influence economic performance of private prisons. Important part is dedicated to the growth of prison-industrial complex characterized by the overlapping interests of bureaucracy, politicians and private prison companies that lead to increased pressure to maintain or increase the prison population. In the final chapter, the thesis analyzes the consequences such as increasing tax burden; demographic...
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Mexico's dual approach at the southern border : clash of realism and humanitarianism
Vrchota, Petr ; Kozák, Kryštof (advisor) ; Ditrych, Ondřej (referee)
In my thesis I will show the case of Mexico, a country that is struggling hard to fulfill its principles of national security - one of the most characteristic features of Mexico's policies. Simultaneously, Mexico is making efforts to fulfill human rights' obligations of both its nationals and foreigners. Increasingly especially since the turn of the millennia, the United States has been fortifying its border with Mexico with the aim to prevent the Mexican and other immigrants reaching the United States illegally. Yet, hard-line border controls and migration-related policies have not been adopted solely by the United States, but also Mexico has played a dominant role in fortifying its border areas, especially along the southern border with Belize and Guatemala. My research questions would then focus on what is driving Mexico to adopt dual approach towards Central American migrants along Mexico's southern border, and why is Mexico balancing between realistic principles of national security and human rights' obligations, which has espoused by signing and ratifying international conventions?
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India-U.S. Relations in the Late 1960s and in the First Half of the 1970s
Novotný, Ondřej ; Bečka, Jan (advisor) ; Vidén, Anna Karolina (referee)
This MA thesis titled as - India-U.S. Relations in the Late 1960s and in the First Half of the 1970s - focuses on mutual relations of the U.S. on one side and India on the other. It elaborates various events, which influenced these relations during the late 1960s and in the first half ot the 1970s. The result of this work is the confirmation that the U.S., in its foreign policy strategy, strictly followed the principle of realpolitik. Thanks to that their interests, however, often collided with those of India. Its effort of rapprochment with the PRC, during which Pakistan played an important role as the main communication channel between both countries, was a 'thorn in the side' of India's top officials, including its Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The U.S. foreign policy, which was mainly in hands of the National Security Advisor of President Richard Nixon Henry Kissinger, had to logically prefer an alliance with Pakistan. This, of course, was not welcomed by India because these two Asian countries waged several wars against each other and had strained relations since their birth. Thus, in spite of the fact that India might seem as the best American partner, given its strong democratic principles, the opposite was true. Nixon/Kissinger, in defiance of all obstacles, did not relent and remained firm...
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