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Frenemies: Analysis of Sino-American Military Relationships During the Bush and Obama Administrations
Kryl, Šimon ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
This diploma thesis is an analysis of Bush and Obama administrations' approach towards Sino-American military relations. The topic of this thesis is the military cooperation between the People's Republic China (PRC) and the United States. The paper analyzes the trends and topics of the military-to-military contacts through the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) theory. The bilateral relationship between the two countries is the most important relationship in the 21st century and its development has worldwide implications. Historically, there have been multiple points of tension where interests of both countries collided, many of which persisted to be sources of the new unease. The American support to Taiwan through numerous arms-sales, increased Chinese militarization of space, cyberspace and the South China Sea are the main causes of reluctant military-to-military cooperation between the PRC and the U.S. It is vital for the rest of the global community that both superpowers keep an acceptable amount of tensions between their armies and ideally pursue more cooperation than competition. The paper concludes that the Sino-American military relations have gone through an on-and-off pattern during both Bush administrations, mainly due to aforementioned American support for Taiwan, and due to the types...
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Analysis of the behaviour of selected states in the South China Sea
Jetelinová, Denisa ; Kučerová, Irah (advisor) ; Karásková, Ivana (referee)
The South China Sea has been already for several centuries the root of a dispute among states neighbouring along its borders, namely the People's Republic of China (China), Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia. Since the Sea is very geopolitically and geostrategically important, China attempts to claim itself to be a sovereign. However, its activities face the demands of other states, especially Vietnam and the Philippines, which are also interested in gaining control over the islands in the South China Sea. For that reason, the dispute still persists, and the continuous activities of all concerned countries have created an endless spiral of events in which it is difficult to distinguish between the action and the reaction of individual actors in the dispute. My diploma thesis therefore focuses on the analysis of actions of the three selected countries, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, from the perspective of structural realism that is split into two contradictory streams, defensive and offensive. Their different views on the world help me to clarify whether the behaviour of the chosen actors is defensive of offensive. For the analysis, the period from 2011 to 2018 was chosen. During that time, several major incidents have appeared between selected countries, especially...
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China's Maritime Lawfare
Straatsma, Wietse ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Bruner, Tomáš (referee)
Bibliographic note STRAATSMA, Wietse. China's Maritime Lawfare in the South China Sea. Prague, 2018. 83 pages. Master's thesis (Mgr.) Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Studies. Department of Security Studies. Supervisor PhDr. Vít Střítecký, M.Phil., Ph.D. Abstract The primary aim of this thesis is to examine if and how the People's Republic of China uses legal warfare to strengthen its maritime power in the South China Sea. To examine this, Dunlap's interpretation of lawfare has been combined with a lawfare typology from Kittrie to create a framework from which China's behavior has been examined. The paper posits that China's behavior in and related to the South China Sea meets the criteria of lawfare. China utilizes both instrumental lawfare and compliance-leverage disparity lawfare to justify its legal claims on the South China Sea's maritime sphere and the landforms that lie within it. This lawfare combined with enforcement has led to China gaining substantial maritime power. The islands China occupies and their militarization have granted it marine resources, naval power, and bases to project power from. The thesis contributes to the literature on China's behavior in the South China Sea by providing a lens through which to view its actions. Moreover, it contributes...
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Geopolitical Importance of the South China Sea
Volf, Dominik ; Kučerová, Irah (advisor) ; Karásková, Ivana (referee)
This diploma thesis, entitled "The Geopolitical Importance of the South China Sea", deals with the issue of the South China Sea dispute in view of the economic and strategic importance of the region. The main goal is to analyze the claims of individual countries and to find out whether this dispute has the potential to grow into an armed conflict. The dispute arose from overlapping territorial claims that countries in the region began to make after the end of World War II. This is primarily the case of the various maritime features in the vicinity of which there are considerable reserves of natural resources. It is the interest in securing these resources that is the main issue of the dispute. To this day, this situation has not been resolved and on the contrary it has triggered a response from states outside the region, mainly the United States of America and Japan. In order to achieve the goal of this diploma thesis, the theoretical framework, which is geopolitics and critical geopolitics, is first introduced. Furthermore, the general meaning of seas and oceans with the current legislation is introduced. On this basis, country case studies are conducted with the aim of making a comparative analysis that should clarify the current form of the dispute and the potential of the dispute to grow into...
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Territorial Disputes in South China Sea
Rožnovská, Veronika ; Ondřej, Jan (advisor) ; Bílková, Veronika (referee)
Territorial Disputes in South China Sea Abstract This diploma thesis deals with territorial disputes in the South China Sea and its participants. The aim of the thesis is to describe legal titles of all participants of the dispute and analyse their claims for areas in the South China Sea. The reason of the territorial dispute is based on the proximity of countries and the fact that the South China Sea contains a number of features that are claimed by surrounding countries whose claims exclude. Moreover, one of the participants - China, claims nearly 90% of the whole area. The thesis also describes provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that are significant for the territorial dispute, as well as, means of the conflict solutions of the dispute provided in the Convention. The Philippines as one of the participants of the dispute decided to initiate arbitrary trial in order to find amicable settlement. The arbitrary tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines in that matter, however as final chapter provides, China decided to ignore the arbitrary award and continues to supress other countries. Thus, an amicable solution of the dispute seems very unlikely in the near future. Key words South China Sea, exclusive economic zone, territorial dispute
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FONOPs - Freedom of Navigation Operations in the South China Sea as a tool of the US in maintaining freedom of navigation
Vojtuš, Michal ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Bečka, Jan (referee)
This thesis analyses the American policy of sustaining freedom of navigation on the seas through its Freedom of Navigation Program (FON Program). It analyses Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) as a means of maintain the current system of the law of the sea as put forth by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. (UNCLOS) The thesis deals with law of the sea history, it also describes and analyses the Convention itself. Another topic discussed is the unique position of United States as a power guaranteeing the current regime of the seas, while staying out of the provision of UNCLOS. The thesis analyses the American debate about joining the Convention and analyses the consequences of American absence as a party to the treaty. The FON Program and FONOPs in the South China Sea are thoroughly analysed by the thesis. The South China Sea is a troubled region suffering from excessive maritime claims of local states. These claims are closely connected to the militarization of the region. The People's Republic of China is an important force as a rising power striving for the position of a regional hegemon. The thesis describes, how FONOPs are conducted and it observes, how they are received by the target states. The thesis is set in the South China Sea region between October 2015 and May...
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South China Sea: Issues of Chinese U-shaped line
Hofmanová, Lucie ; Romancov, Michael (advisor) ; Karmazin, Aleš (referee)
The bachelor thesis "South China Sea: Issues of Chinese U-shaped line "focuses on a Chinese line called the U-shaped line in the South China Sea. The main task of this thesis is to present the differences in understanding of legal issues between the Chinese academics and their foreign colleagues regarding the U-shaped line, the claims of each state in the South China Sea and their distinction from Chinese claims and the consistency of the U-shaped line with international law. For a comprehensive understanding of the presented issues the first part of work concentrates on historical development of this line and the significance of the South China Sea. Legal concepts and treaties relating to the conflict are explained as well. It involves international law, international maritime law, Note verbale, Declaration on the South China Sea, Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, Island of Palmas case and International Court of Justice. The stress is put on the legal aspects and development of this line.
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China in Global and Regional policy in the 21st Century- Geopolitical Clash with Japan, India, USA, Russia, and Europe
Petrtýl, Martin ; Hnízdo, Bořivoj (advisor) ; Kofroň, Jan (referee) ; Andělová, Petra (referee)
CHINA IN GLOBAL AND REGIONAL POLITICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY - GEOPOLITICAL CLASH WITH JAPAN, INDIA, USA, RUSSIA AND EUROPE Mgr. Martin Petrtýl Supervisor: Doc. Dr. Bořivoj Hnízdo, PhD. Institute of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences This dissertation discusses the current and future role of China in the 21st century. I worked with the idea to prepare a systematically detailed analytical study of the country in relation to its surroundings as well as its internal environment for more than 8 years, including many interruptions. I, above all, contemplated about the way how to truly scientifically, i.e. credibly, it means in the maximum possible the limits of verifiability, develop a full work that could hold up to the colleagues from the scientific community and myself. It is logical it was and is my attempt to allow minimal possibility of any criticism of this work for its formal, content, or other deficiencies. First, I decided to analyse in some detail the currently known theoretical approaches and methods of study, not only in political sciences, especially those used by political geographers, but also in other related fields, especially in the field of study of international relations, sociology, political science or general security studies. I did not want to study the issue is the...
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Geopolitics of global and regional actors in the South China Sea
Lochman, Josef ; Lepič, Martin (advisor) ; Jelen, Libor (referee)
GEOPOLITICS OF GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ACTORS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA Abstract This bachelor thesis focuses on territorial disputes in the South China Sea as well as on the geopolitical conditions of such occurence. The aim of the thesis is to answer the following research questions: Which contested terrains are the primary sources of tension in the area? Which factors can possibly cause a military conflict? And what are the reasons for increasing Chinese claims in the region? The method of systematic review of scholarly literature is used to collect the evidence and answer the research questions. Theoretical framework of the thesis i based on the disputes between classical and critical geopolitics. While the stae-led hegemonic politics is usually based on the former approach, the critical geopolitice is especially useful for critical insight made by researcher. As the evidence shows, he most contested terrains in the South China Sea are Spratly and Paracel Islands, because the sovereignty upon them is claimed by most of the countries. Large reserves of energy resources can be found within the island's adjacent waters. These are required by China as well as other countries in the region in order to facilitate an economic growth. Since 2010, China, strenghtened by its economic and military progrese, has appointed...
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Differences in the resolution of sea territories conflicts in areas with energy resources
Bančanský, Andrej ; Karlas, Jan (advisor) ; Parízek, Michal (referee)
Energy security is an important phenomenon of the contemporary world. A significant number of oil and gas reserves are located on the seabed. Expansion of oil and gas drilling to deeper and from shore more remote locations can again raise the question of ownership of these deposits. On one hand, there are regions of the world where these disputes over borders of maritime territories escalate into a series of clashes and incidents. On the other hand, there are other areas where states can settle their disputes and cooperate on drilling. The goal of this study is to determine which factors lead to the fact that particularly in the South China Sea disagreement about the boundaries of maritime territories results in the escalation of disputes in comparison with the regions of the North Sea and the Caribbean Sea, where disputes are solved or minimized. These factors are represented by six variables, which are based on three theories: a realist, idealist and constructivist theory of international relations. The first part of this study describes the historical development of current international maritime law with regard to the territorial division of the world's oceans. It is followed by a description of three case areas. The second part deals with the theoretical foundations of the examined factors. In...
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