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Israel's security as German national interest: German historical commitment to Israel
Suk, Adam ; Kalhousová, Irena (advisor) ; Handl, Vladimír (referee)
This thesis analyses the connection between Israel's security and Germany's reason of state and examines the historically derived moral commitment of Germany to Israel. Despite the dark historical background, Germany and Israel have managed to develop close bilateral ties and intensive partnership. Nonetheless, the relationship remains very complex and the role of the past is still very significant. Germany still feels a strong sense of responsibility for Israel's security, and its moral commitment to Israel remains to be one of the most important factors determining Germany's policies towards the Middle East. The thesis provides answers to the following research questions: What is the role of Israel in Germany's reason of state? And What does the connection of Israel's security and Germany's reason of state mean in concrete terms, with a special focus on Germany's position towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The theoretical and conceptual framework of the thesis is built on the constructivist approach to international relations. Working with the constructivist definition of national interest, it examines the connection between Israel's security and Germany's reason of state. The thesis also employs the role concept of civilian power to offer a better understanding of German foreign policy,...
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French Military Interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa 2003 - 2012
Chlebounová, Tereza ; Tomalová, Eliška (advisor) ; Weiss, Tomáš (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to answer how and why France intervenes in Sub-Saharan Africa in the new millennium. This region represented the pivotal part of French colonial empire and France maintained close mutual relationship even after decolonization, partly due to the numerous military interventions. Security and defence policy towards Sub-Saharan Africa underwent gradual changes since the 1990s', France started to participate in multilateral peace operations and outside its traditional sphere of influence. Since 2003, when the European Union launched the first operation on the African continent, the vast majority of French interventions took place within the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU. There were twelve new operations in the examined period 2003-2012, from which four military missions were selected for the purpose of this research: Operation Artemis in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2003, EUFOR DR Congo ibidem in 2006, EUFOR Chad/CAR in Chad and Central African Republic from 2008 to 2009 and naval operation EU NAVFOR Atalanta launched by the coast of Somalia in 2008. The thesis compares these cases in order to analyse motives which lead France to intervene in Sub-Saharan Africa and to prefere multilateral type of operation. The motives are assessed in the context of the...
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Icelandic fisheries as the national interest and its influence on the formation of the foreign policy
Tůmová, Kateřina ; Hořejšová, Tereza (advisor) ; Weiss, Tomáš (referee)
Presented thesis analyzes the Icelandic fisheries as a national interest and its role in foreign policy. Importance of fisheries confirms the fact that in the first half of the twentieth century marine products accounted for over 90% of Iceland's exports and the Icelandic economy was fully dependent on one sector. Gradual diversification of the economy in the seventies, however, caused a decline in exports of fish products to one-third of total exports. The thesis assumes that the Icelandic fisheries have a significant impact on foreign policy, even though its economic importance is declining. The research is carried out on three historical events, such as the cod wars in the fifties and the seventies, mackerel dispute in 2010 and the withdrawal of Iceland's application to the EU in 2015. It would be expected that due to the economic ties and Icelandic membership in international organizations (NATO, EFTA) the Icelandic government would primarily seek peaceful solutions in international conflicts. However, it could be observed in the Icelandic case that due to the pressure of the domestic politics the government does not respond as it would be expected. According to the neoclassical realism the thesis should verify a hypothesis that in a case of security threat, the Icelandic government will give...
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The Strategy of Promoting Czech Citizens to the Position of Heads of EU Delegations
Urban, Patrik ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Kasáková, Zuzana (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with strategies of promoting Czechs as ambassadors of the EU (HoD) since the launch of the European External Action Service to the present. The main research goal of this thesis is to find out whether the Czech Republic promotes its candidates to the HoD positions in the countries of its priority interests. So far, a Czech citizen has become an HoD in six cases. These cases are confronted with a categorization of priority countries of the Czech Republic which has been elaborated by the author. Then, the Czech activities in promoting citizens are analysed based on interviews with relevant employees of the Czech state organs. These actions are consequently put into categorization of lobbying methods of the smaller states in the EU. Based on the categorization of the Czech territorial priorities, it can be claimed that the Czechs have not been sent as HoDs to the countries of the Czech interests so far. Even their other applications have not been meant to place them to the countries of the Czech interests. On the other hand, there is a bulk of activities embraced by the Czech Republic to reverse this trend. First, the Czech administration exacerbates networking and informal meetings among the Czechs based in Brussels. Second, the Czech state officials have developed formal...
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The causes of continuing existence of the French Foreign Legion
Dolejší, Daniel ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Kučera, Tomáš (referee)
Daniel Dolejší The causes of continuing existence of the French Foreign Legion 2015 Abstract The core theme of this diploma thesis is the French Foreign Legion that is examined from the point of view of national interests and strategic culture of France. It is very unusual in developed countries to have foreigners as a part of national army. Goal of the thesis is to discover and describe the causes of continuing existence of the French Foreign Legion. First of all, the author defines national interests and strategic culture of France for certain periods, and then he assesses the contribution of the Legion to fulfillment of goals connected to the national interests and the strategic culture. To the main conclusions of this work belongs that the first hypothesis was confirmed, the French Foreign Legion helped to reach goals based on national interests in certain periods. On the other hand, the second hypothesis was not completely confirmed. The author expected that the strategic culture always stabilizes and supports the role of the Legion, but he found out the opposite for the interwar period. The author supposes higher importance of the Legion in the area of peacekeeping operations under a mandate of the UN or NATO because the EU currently lacks troops prepared to be deployed abroad.
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Czech Interests in Georgia: Analysis of methods of their promotion
Audyová, Petra ; Šlosarčík, Ivo (advisor) ; Weiss, Tomáš (referee)
The diploma thesis analyzes the way of promoting the national interest of the Czech Republic in Georgia and describes possible changes as a result of the Czech EU Presidency. The national interest is examined based on the assumption that the state foreign policy is the expression of the national interest. Therefore, the primary sources for this analysis are official foreign policy documents of the Czech Republic. The aim is to confirm or disprove the hypothesis that Czech foreign-policy towards Georgia in the period from 2007 to 2011 was driven by the aim to maximize own profit through EU structures. Given the size of the Czech Republic and its geopolitical importace, the analysis is based on the theory of neo-liberal institutionalism, and in accordance with this theory the national interest operationalized into four criteria, namely: 1) Compliance of EU and Czech interests, 2) Profiting from the EU presidency to promote the Czech interests, 3) Long-term consistency of interests, and 4) Economic interests as the main priority. The set of criteria helped to identify whether the Czech Republic behaved in accordance with the theory of neo-liberal institutionalism, and whether the Czech interests were promoted either through multilateral or bilateral relations. The analysis shows that in the studied...
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National interest? Analysis of the securitization strategy of the Czech security policy in counterterrorism
Hvězda, Martin ; Kučera, Tomáš (advisor) ; Bahenský, Vojtěch (referee)
The analysis of security policy, in its variations, regularly deals with the question of what each actor wants to promote in domestic or international politics, in other words, what is his interest. The term "national interest" is not an abstract category and a rhetorical turn legitimizing government action in front of the public audience or in dispute with political opposition. One of the aims of the presented thesis is to present the concept of national interest as a useful tool enabling closer research of domestic policy within the security context. Our main thematic focus, in which we examine the constitution of national interest, is the Czech counterterrorism policy in the context of the reaction of the Czech government and security forces to the terrorist attacks in Paris in autumn 2015 and in Brussels in March of the following year. An extraordinary measure after the attacks in Brussels in the form of the deployment of the Czech Army performing police tasks in mixed patrols in three Czech cities is for us a key manifestation of counterterrorism policy. This constitution of the security policy, we are further investigating. The main motivation is to explain the reasons why the mentioned security measure took place, which has no analogs in the history of the Czech Republic. We conclude that...
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The Strategy of Promoting Czech Citizens to the Position of Heads of EU Delegations
Urban, Patrik ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Kasáková, Zuzana (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with strategies of promoting Czechs as ambassadors of the EU (HoD) since the launch of the European External Action Service to the present. The main research goal of this thesis is to find out whether the Czech Republic promotes its candidates to the HoD positions in the countries of its priority interests. So far, a Czech citizen has become an HoD in six cases. These cases are confronted with a categorization of priority countries of the Czech Republic which has been elaborated by the author. Then, the Czech activities in promoting citizens are analysed based on interviews with relevant employees of the Czech state organs. These actions are consequently put into categorization of lobbying methods of the smaller states in the EU. Based on the categorization of the Czech territorial priorities, it can be claimed that the Czechs have not been sent as HoDs to the countries of the Czech interests so far. Even their other applications have not been meant to place them to the countries of the Czech interests. On the other hand, there is a bulk of activities embraced by the Czech Republic to reverse this trend. First, the Czech administration exacerbates networking and informal meetings among the Czechs based in Brussels. Second, the Czech state officials have developed formal...
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How Ethnic Lobbies Influence Policy: The Case of Armenian Genocide Recognition in The United States
Currie, Erin ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Kučera, Tomáš (referee)
This thesis seeks to examine the characteristics of the Turkish Lobby in the United States and the strategies it has utilized in its approach to countering the Armenian Lobby's efforts at official Recognition of the Armenian Genocide. While the Armenian Lobby and its approach to Genocide Recognition in the United States has been well-documented, the organizational structure of the Turkish Lobby and its approach to counter Genocide Recognition has been less explored. The Turkish Lobby consists of various Turkish-American organizations with close ties to Ankara, as well as professional lobbying and public relations firms contracted by the Turkish government for millions of dollars annually. The variety of actors that compose the Turkish Lobby is a reflection of Turkey's multi-pronged approach to preventing Genocide Recognition. This seeks to examine the primary strategies the Turkish Lobby has employed to counter Genocide Recognition, as well as its strengths and weaknesses according to indicators of effective ethnic group lobbying. Two case studies are presented in order to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of the Turkish Lobby and the strategies it employed to prevent two House Resolutions calling for Genocide Recognition. The findings show that the Turkish Lobby fulfills several...
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Tresčí války: Island jako (ne)předpokládaný vítěz
Karkoš, Daniel ; Kasáková, Zuzana (advisor) ; Weiss, Tomáš (referee)
This bachelor thesis deals with the Cod wars, a series of disputes between the United Kingdom and Iceland. The disputes were triggered by Iceland's unilateral extention of its territorial waters. It was caused by Iceland's fear of foreign fishermen's negative impact on local economy and culture. The disputes are unique, for the warring parties were partners within NATO. The disputes are nevertheless mostly interesting for the fact that their end was rather unexpected. Every time victory was on Iceland's side. This thesis investigates, what the reasons for such an outcome were. The investigation is done by an analysis of Icelandic national interests, devided into three categories with help of relevant theories of international relations. The outcome of this analysis is an identification of Icelandic advantages.
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