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Questions of identity, secession, and (international) recognition are inherently interconnected.

Thesis "Questions of quasi-states: typology and trends" deals with a specific range of anomalous political units - the so called quasi-states. They represent an unfavourable anomaly in the political space after 1945 which, according to conventional wisdom deemed to be divided between the territories of sovereign states. The international community approach follows from it to their existence but it is strongly differentiated with respect to their heterogeneity. Thesis in its theoretical chapters focuses on the precise definition of terms of sovereignty, sovereign and quasi-state, which definition is in the current environment of political science the subject of academic debate. For this reason I mention the term quasi-state in different conceptions. Subsequently I suggest my own definiton of the quasi-state, which allows the elimination of terminological confusion. The practical part of the work responds to a frequent point of criticism, which is the absence of a comprehensive typology and the list of these specific political-geographical entities.

Subject of my diploma thesis is typology of quasi-states. I primarily clarify and explain the defnition of sovereign states. After that I focus on the definition of quasi-state, which is in its fundamentals a deviation from a sovereign state. I define four basic categories of quasi-states based on analysis of international community during the active presence of UN, which reflect missing attributes of gregariousness at individual quasi-states. These are not meeting the geographical (experiental) charakteristics of gregariousness, partial limitations or full absence of internal sovereignty, partial limitations or full absence of external sovereignty or limitation of both internal and external sovereignty. I section these four categories into further subcategories. These break up the quasi-states according specific characteristics in given subcategories. There is a general description of characteritical trait at each subcategory that belong into the subcategory. Subsequently brief analytical case studies are being produced for each subcategory. Their objective is to clcarify specific traits of each subcategory and substantiate the presumed typology I conclude that in the times of UN we can witness steep growth of sovereign states, which have been very weak already at the time of its establishment. This...

Bibliographic note Anton, L. S. (2021). In between peacebuilding and counterterrorism. Critical evaluation of external interventionism in Mali in the context of lessons learned from Afghanistan. [Unpublished master's thesis]. Charles University. Abstract This thesis is concerned with the core question of how to promote sustainable stability and peace through interventions in Mali. To limit the scope, the actors focused on are limited to the UN and EU. To answer the question, the learnings and insights form the intervention in Afghanistan are elaborated and applied to Mali to improve future intervention design. A small-n case study approach has been chosen to provide a thorough analysis of the development of peace and stability in each country. A Key Performance Indicators (KPI) based meta data analysis has been applied considering different theories of peace as well as stability. For the data relevant reports and indices are used. The analysis demonstrates that even though temporary and small-scale military goals are achieved over the duration of interventions, no sustainable or efficient progress towards peace and stability could be observed. Consequently, policies need to be adapted. Established hypotheses could be proven throughout the thesis. After the analysis, the international engagement in...

This bachelor's thesis examines the perceptions of Chinese and Taiwanese mask diplomacy (deliveries of medical supplies and related events) in the Czech Republic. The thesis aims to answer the research question "How and why did the perception of Chinese and Taiwanese mask diplomacy differ in the Czech Republic" through the analysis and interpretation of data obtained using qualitative content analysis of articles focused on medical supply deliveries, and semi- structured interviews with selected journalists who published some of these articles. Findings from content analysis and interviews with journalists are interpreted through the theories of public diplomacy and soft power by American political scientist and international relations theorist Joseph Nye. The thesis also discusses the limitations of applying these theories to Asian countries with different political systems compared to Western countries.

This paper focuses on the Coalition for the Sahel, primarily in its efforts against violent non-state actors. The central point of the research is the achievements attained between the years 2020-2022 and the work the Coalition still has ahead of them. The Coalition was introduced in 2020; its base is built upon four main goals, referred to as the 'four pillars.' The Coalition for the Sahel involves the countries of France, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Mali. All, excluding France, make up the Group of 5 for the Sahel. By the conclusion, this paper will have answered the research question: What was the extent of the success of the Coalition for the Sahel? In the past two years, the G5S has successfully undertaken several projects, yet, it has also had to withdraw from others. The next possible steps for the Coalition will be identifiable through the analytical approach taken to answer the abovementioned question.

The following thesis is focusing on the geopolitical as well as geostrategic significance of the GIUK Gap. In addition to an overview of the realist theories of international relations used in the analysis as such, the thesis includes a section devoted to the historical development of the geopolitical and geostrategic significance of the GIUK Gap, but above all an analysis of the current geopolitical and geostrategic significance of the once mentioned specific North Atlantic region. The analysis of the current geopolitical situation is written with an emphasis on the increasing importance of the area for NATO and the Russian Federation, whose interests have increasingly clashed in recent years, not only in this region. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate a causal relationship between the generally deteriorating relations between NATO and the Russian Federation following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the growing importance of the GIUK Gap.

On cases of Norway and Azerbaijan, the Bachelor's thesis examines the relationship between the oil and gas production revenues and the quality of democracy. Norway is one of the few countries in the world, that had successfully avoided the Resource curse symptoms. On the other hand, Republic of Azerbaijan is typical example of a state, where oil and gas revenues helped to promote the authoritarian regime. The thesis is trying to find key factors of Norway's oil and gas management success, and also to point out, whether these factors were absent in the case of Azerbaijan. The thesis is focused on the amount of oil and gas related revenues, and its influence on developement of democracy in observed countries. Finally, the thesis responds to following questions: Is the quality of democracy influenced by the amount of revenues from oil and gas? In what way did the revenues allocated from the mineral resources extraction helped to preserve the current regimes? Does Norwegian model provide guidance for avoiding the symptoms of the Resource curse?

Since 2003, Iraq went into a significant shift of political authority in which many political parties fighting for leadership failed to keep peace in the region; however, for many - like ruling parties in Kurdistan Region of Iraq - a golden compass was in the pot to gain more authority high political positions in the region. The new Iraqi Constitution recognized KRG as an autonomous entity of Iraq, and Kurdish politicians were taking high political positions within the new Iraqi government. Despite these achievements, the political instability post-Iraq War remained and was shaped by internal factors like security, economy, and unresolved issues over disputed territories. Regional and international interventions also had a hand in these internal conflicts. For Kurdistan Regional Government, the question of Kurdish statehood never dissipated. The internal political setting post-2010 provided an environment of possible Kurdish statehood - or at least as the Kurdish leaders anticipated. In 2017, the KRG went for an unsupported referendum of independence that soon shifted the political dynamic between Kurdish parties and Baghdad into a turmoil of power struggle. The thesis builds a comprehensive discussion of factors of internal conflict in the KRG and analyzes how these internal disputes affected...

Western thoughts and thinking dominate international relations theories. Kautilya's Arthaasatra is a text written on political statecraft and governance almost 2300 years ago. Utilising this text, the research question of how India can augment its state power is answered. Two hypotheses are employed to answer these questions. One is if India can be an alternative to the Chinese monopoly in rare earth elements. The second is if India can lessen its dependence on semiconductors, which comprises 100% imports. This thesis finds that both the hypotheses are valid and recommends that the present government ensure that the mines remain in government control It also recommends that for the next decade, the government maintains control over the semiconductor industry or even if it's privatised, the government retains the facility, in order to generate revenue from it. This thesis demonstrates that the Indian state's power can be augmented by augmenting its economy. Západní myšlenky a způsob myšlení dominují teorie mezinárodních vztahů. Kautilyna Arthaastra je text napsaný o státnictví a vládnutí téměř před třemi tisíci lety. Pomocí tohoto textu můžeme zodpovědět otázku výzkumu jak může Indie rozšířit svou státní moc. Pro zodpovězení těchto otázek zapojíme dvě hypotézy. Jednou je, zda Indie může být...

Kosovo and Albania have developed relations with Turkey for many centuries, due to a shared history. These relations took another dimension in the 21st century with the entrance of President Erdogan into the political scene of Turkey. Personal relations were developing between the leader of Turkey with leaders in Kosovo and Albania. Moreover, in the field of economy, they have reached many agreements that impact the markets of Turkey, Albania and Kosovo. The shared past concluded to major similarities in culture between the countries. Due to Muslim societies, Turkey has also been utilizing religion as a tool to project soft power in Albania and Kosovo. In this study we take a closer look at Turkish influence in Albania and Kosovo in the political, economic, and cultural spheres. The study was conducted on a mixed methodology where ten semi-structured interviews with experts, professors and politicians were developed (five per each country) and a survey to include citizens' perceptions on the topic (867 persons responded to the survey, around 51% of respondents from Kosovo and 49% from Albania). This study concluded that Turkey's influence in Kosovo and Albania is not negative, except for rare cases of penetration in internal politics. Cultural similarities are seen to contribute to trade between...

CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies Department of Geopolitical Studies Master's Thesis Wagner Group and Opportunism in Russian Foreign Policy: Case Studies of the Central African Republic (CAR), Libya, and Mozambique Abstract This research paper concerns Russian foreign policy and the tools it uses to accomplish its objectives. More specifically, the research is focused on the secretive private military company (PMC) Wagner Group. Wagner Group has been deployed around the globe to further the interests of Russia and is a key tool in Russia's opportunistic foreign policy. This paper seeks to answer the research question: At what point does the risk for Russia become too high to maintain the deployment of Wagner Group in a foreign country? Answering this research question will help academics and policymakers further understand the use of Wagner Group by the Russian government. Wagner Group is meant to be low risk to Russia. Previous research is sparse and often covers many deployments of Wagner Group. In contrast, this paper focuses on three case studies that allow for a more in- depth approach - Wagner Group in the Central African Republic (CAR), Libya, and Mozambique. Using qualitative analysis this paper discerned that in its use of Wagner Group, Russia will...

Eurasianism emerged more than hundred years ago as an intellectual emigre movement after the First World War, mainly as a theory of national values and traditions. In my thesis, I examine how did this politico-philosophical ideology evolved into its Neo-Eurasian version which is popular under the current Russian system. As most of the Eurasian papers were never translated into English and the available; contemporary literature tends to be critical about Eurasian ideology without being examined properly, I decided to translate and evaluate the original texts too. In my bachelor thesis I focused on topics of Eurasian geopolitics. I compared the main classic works of the western geopolitical analysts to the Neo-Eurasian writings and explained the historical background of this land. I analysed into what extend is the Kremlin following the (Neo)Eurasian Doctrine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Also, how Russian Federation incline towards the eastern states after conflicts and misunderstanding with the western states. I collected and compared the information from the official documents, historical writings of the Russian and foreign authors and the geopolitical predictions of the past century. This paper might be of a value for western researchers without a knowledge of Russian language and...

This thesis focuses on the position of the Czech Republic vis-à-vis de facto states in the extended concept of frozen conflicts. The thesis divides de facto states into three categories according to the nature of this position and Taiwan is identified as the only member of the positively perceived category. The aim of the thesis is to find out why the position of the Czech Republic towards Taiwan is different from that towards other de facto states in frozen conflicts. Specifically, the thesis examines the positive perception of Taiwan in the Czech Republic and the dynamics of the relationship between the two actors. The thesis first justifies the overall distinctiveness of Taiwan from other de facto states and then justifies the rapprochement between the Czech Republic and Taiwan. Václav Havel's value politics, Taiwan's assertive diplomacy, and the unified perception of Taiwan and anti-China policies in domestic discourse are identified as the main factors behind the actors' rapprochement. The paper also highlights the lack of direct influence of economic relations on the dynamics of mutual relations and the irrelevance of the concept of frozen conflicts on the mutual perception of both actors.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which erupted in the end of 1980s, entered its most dangerous phase after the 1994 ceasefire agreement. The 2020 war totally changed the geopolitical situation of the South Caucasus region. After the victory and preservation of the status quo for 26 years, Armenia suffered huge losses and is left defeated and humiliated. Russian influence enhanced due to deployment of peacekeepers into Nagorno-Karabakh, while Turkey actively engaged in the war, openly supported Azerbaijan, and took a position of a more active player. Clash of conflicts between the reality and the narratives and rhetoric, which have been an inseparable part of this conflict, reached its culmination during the war. Even though the military actions were halted, and Russian-brokered trilateral ceasefire agreement was signed, long-term peace and reaching a final conflict solution seem quite farfetched.

The vitality of study of migration and its outcomes has become one of the red flags of the century. Since the years 2014-2015 western countries have become the destination, but how does the world see migration policies of Hungary and Israel - the two very far from each other states that, with a detailed analysis of their regulations, laws, detentions, and facilities for those purposes, appear to have a number of correlations. Badly equipped detention centres and/or camps, long-time application procedures, attempts to relocate refugees, and built-up fences form the common ground of the two countries. Robert Cooper's theory from "The Breaking of Nations" (2004) on the state formation is meant to differentiate the world into three categories, pre-modern, modern, and post-modern. Those would have different opinion on Israeli and Hungarian migration policies, but how does that perception vary? Three focus states would be the representatives for those types of state formation. Libya is for pre-modern states, those are unstable and face the risk of falling from the uneven, usually military, order to chaos; the United States of America comes as a representation of the modern states, which focus on the balance of power, and national security and privacy of their affairs prevails over other matters; and the...

Despite the worsening security situation in East Asia, in 2020, Japan suddenly and abruptly canceled the deployment of the Aegis Ashore missile defense system. Why is that? I argue that neither the often-cited neorealist theory nor the official government explanation well define the reasons that lead to the cancellation. Instead, I build on the neoclassical realist paradigm and illustrate three key components that led to this abrupt political change: ShinzoAbe's leadership, changes in domestic political decision-making process, and the role of external actors (US and China). The research found out that personal and politico-cultural factors play essential roles in Japanese decision-making in addition to systemic pressures. The relationship with China also had played a vital role in making security policy. The combination of individual, domestic and systemic factors provide a holistic picture of how and why such a decision has transpired. Keywords Japan, Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD), Aegis Ashore, neo-realism, Neoclassical realism Range of Thesis: 55 Pages, 13 476 words, 87 798 characters

Bibliographic note KLIMEŠOVÁ, Tereza. The Implications of the Intervention in Iraq for the United States' Policy of Democracy Promotion. Master thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of International Studies, Supervisor Ph.Dr. Jan Hornát, Ph.D. Abstract Democracy promotion has been an integral part of US foreign policy for more than a century. Particularly at the end of the 20th century, democracy flourished worldwide as autocratic regimes collapsed at large and scholars talked about the "End of History." Nevertheless, the current situation is very different, and substantial democratic backsliding is observable. Many scholars are tracing the origins of this decline to the Bush's Freedom Agenda, particularly the intervention in Iraq in 2003, arguing that it was the initial turning point for US democracy promotion. However, this thesis argues that the invasion and the subsequent war were pivotal only in part. The most visible implications were within the public perception of democracy promotion. Due to the US engagement in Iraq, domestic support deteriorated substantially. Moreover, the international community's perception of the US as a benign democracy exporter crumbled as well. Another change was observable within the rhetoric of President Obama after taking office in 2009. In...

This thesis examines the functioning and implications of the food supply chain on countries food security by investigating one low, one middle, and one high-income country, represented by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, People's Republic of China, and the United State of America. While it is well understood that a high-income country has a more secure food supply chain than a low-income country, the multitude of reasons affecting this difference, and the severity of the difference is less clearly framed in literature. The first part explores and lays out the factors influencing all the key aspects of the food supply chain, and the second part then analyzing the selected countries through those. The third part explores some geopolitical trends of importance to the food supply chain. Through the analysis, the differences between the countries becomes apparent, and the results show a strong difference in food security for low income countries, compared to middle and high-income. The difference between middle and high-income countries is not as prevalent, but still meaningful.

This thesis is about the military conflict in eastern and southern territories of Ukraine, including the Crimean crisis and War in the Donbas area that took place from 2014 till this present time (2020). According to international law, these regions are still part of Ukraine, however, Russia de facto controls the Crimea Peninsula and the Donbass region. Due to dissatisfaction with the dismissal of Ukrainian President Yanukovych, Crimea opposed the new central government with the help of Russian military forces. Subsequently, they elected their own parliament and voted to declare independence. They then successfully held a referendum on whether to "return" to Russia which is biased and condemned by the international community. The referendum claimed to be passed with a very high number of votes although both the turnout and the votes in favor have been questioned, then Crimea officially joined the Russian Federation. The results of the Crimean referendum were not accepted by the Ukrainian government, and Russia was also sanctioned by the Western-based international community due to this crisis. What's more, part of the pro-Russian region in eastern Ukraine has also followed the independence of Crimea and intended to "rejoin" Russia Federal. After the two Minsk treaties, in spite of the fact that...

This thesis examines the extent to which climate change is able to affect the security of states, with Burkina Faso and the Republic of Djibouti chosen as the case studies for this investigation. While the general effects of climate change on security are understood, the academic community appears to disagree on the subject of conflict-generation via climactic pressures. Consequently, the analysis is divided into two sections: The first part utilizes over 2,000 individual events collected by the Armed Conflict and Event Data program and examines the relationship between climate change and their occurrence. This is done firstly through a preliminary keyword analysis, then through a multivariate regression analysis of the relevant climate change factors. The second part takes a pseudo-qualitative approach by merging the Fragile State Index methodology and a weighted systems model in order to calculate values for each relevant state dimension that has been affected, thereby numerically quantifying the effect. The results indicate that currently, weak to moderate negative effects may be observed on the two states, depending on the security dimension examined. The economic and sociodemographic aspects appear to be most susceptible to environmental pressures.

CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies Department of Geopolitical Studies Master's Thesis Unconventional power of small states: a comparative case study of Lithuania and Taiwan (ROC) Abstract: The hypotheses of the leading international relations theories, especially realism, face fundamental criticism for not explaining the behavior of some small states, who lack material power but play an effective and influential role in the international arena. To fill in this oversight, the contemporary discourse of small states challenges the resource-based understandings of power and seeks new avenues to explain how some small states succeed in "punching above their weight." Most recently, Dr. Tom Long (2017) synthesized previous academic researches and proposed that the small state's power can be best understood as originating in three categories: derivative, collective, and particular-intrinsic. This thesis aims to contribute to the argument that small states can possess unconventional power to advance their influence and achieve their national interests. It uses Dr. Tom Long's three categories of unconventional power, as a basis for the comparative case study of Taiwan and Lithuania - two small states that have notoriously challenge the notion of "how a small state should...

In the last decade China has transformed itself into a maritime power. It is well established that the appointment of Xi-Jinping as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist in 2013 has been effective in rivalling the U.S Pivot to Asia of 2012 concerning the hegemonic dominance of the highly contested South China Sea region. The thesis aims to demonstrate how emerging powers like China are ready to exhibit methods of soft and hard power to liberate contested waters worth billions of unclaimed dollars of hydrocarbon resources beneath its seabed to showcase how an emerging power is ready to challenge an established power for regional hegemony. A combination of both qualitative and quantitative data has been used to examine Chinese power projection in the South China Sea with relation to their actions in terms of modernisation of their naval fleet, hedging of multilateral institutions and artificial constructions in disputed territories. In sum, a theoretical in depth analysis on how control over the South China Sea is crucial to long term Chinese security. .

After the fall of the USSR and Yugoslavia, the international recognition regime changed from being based on largely descriptive criteria to increasingly adding normative criteria. The role of the great powers - here defined as the US, the UK, France, China, and Russia/USSR - in deciding which entities manage to obtain independence and become a member of the UN has gained scholarly focus in the same period. This thesis seeks to add to the growing scientific knowledge by identifying what the motivations of the great powers are when approaching a conflict where an entity seeks independence. Specifically, this thesis investigates the case of Western Sahara. While claiming the whole territory, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) controls over approximately 20% of the territory, with Morocco controlling the remaining 80%. It is an interesting case as international law and several UN resolutions state that the people of the territory should be given the right to self-determination. The question then is why this is not the case. This thesis finds that instrumental motives are far more important than affective when the great powers decide on their approach to the Western Sahara conflict. To the great powers, Morocco is a partner too important to provoke. Although different reasons have been of different...

The following thesis conducted a case study to investigate the opinion of exper ts working on the Bombay-Ahmadabad HSR and Ankara-Istanbul HSR on how China uses HSRD and BRI to develop and utilize its soft power and whether that opinion ma tches the official Chinese point of view. The official Chinese view about BRI is that it seeks to deliver win-win outcomes, development, and improvement of lives for partici pating countries. In addition, it 'has no geopolitical motives, seeks no exclusionary bl ocs, and imposes no business deals on others … addresses people's desire for a better l ife … and shared benefits.' Ramo (2007)'s operationalization of the term global image was used to assess the respondents' opinions. The results showed that there is low dependability of the overa ll BRI among the respondents. A majority of the respondents (60%) claimed that BRI and HSRD are successful but were not impressed by the delivered value and quality o f BRI. 70% of the respondents believed that the Bombay-Ahmadabad HSR would ach ieve its objective and that it had a high level of technology. In terms of financial, socia l and political impact, the responses showed proportions of 40%, 37%, 44% respectiv ely gave a positive answer. Overall, it can be concluded that in terms of image the Bo mbay-Ahmadab gave...

The goal of this thesis was to analyze the unilaterally declared entities of Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republic and determine, whether they should be considered de facto state or puppet state. Using the E.Berg's, E.Kuusk's methodology I was able to measure the position in the international system, certain aspects of internal and external sovereignty, considering the importance of the external actor, the Russian Federation. De facto state is established through local support and its declared goal is to gain the international recognition, meanwhile puppet state is established through military conflict and its dependene on the external actor, sponsor state, reaches such a degree, it can be considered a covert occupation. Independence is an important factor in the actual functioning of the entities. If the formal independence hides the actual independence, entity will be considered a puppet state. In this case both entities meet all the criteria of B.Ivanel's puppet state and formal independence hides the actual independence. Their existence is guaranteed by the sponsor state, the Russian Federation. The dependence on material support (financial, military) is of vital importance. Without the support entities would not be able to provide the basic needs for the population and would have been...

Since Trump came to power, American diplomatic style has changed significantly, especially concerning China's strategy. With the background of the economic, political and diplomatic gap between China and America narrowing. Although Trump continues the previous government's 'Asia-Pacific rebalancing' strategy to some extent, he shows his unique style and is more realistic. At the same time, Trump's government's efforts to restructure Sino-U. S. relations are constrained by many factors. With the development and change of political and economic situations, new adjustments will be made to the U.S. policy towards China, and the development of Sino-U.S. relations will retain great plasticity. However, the right way for Sino-U.S. relations to go is to build a win-win relationship with benign competition. First of all, the development content of the U.S.'s China policy is considered. Second, the reasons for Trump's adjustment of China policy is explained. Then, an analysis of the impact of Trump's China policy proves that this series of competition has more negative than positive impacts. Finally, some measures and methods to enable the Trump administration to improve the foreign policy toward China, also the healthy development trends of China and the U.S. are proposed.

The Middle East, as one of the most dynamic and troubling world regions, has a wide range of problems. However, in my view, the essential, if not the most essential, security issue here, is terrorism. It seems that the relative decline of terrorist groups, such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda, has made us forget that there are indeed underlying problems that cause the emergence of these deadly organizations. This paper aims to identify these causes by analyzing Saudi and Iranian foreign policy towards U.S.-designated terrorist organizations: Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, and Islamic State. In the process, the thesis will establish the general motives of these two states to support and fight terrorism, as well as their means of doing it. Furthermore, it will dive into the specifics of the policies that these two formulate towards every one of the previously stated groups. That will be done in order to prove arguments contending how Riyadh, in many ways, hinders U.S. counterterrorism efforts, while Iranians, contrary to popular belief, contribute to it. Acknowledging that there are many things on which these two states need to improve, the thesis will offer recommendations pointing to the need for Washington to take a more balanced approach to these two countries if it wishes to create a region where its...

Since 2014, the United States has been imposing sanctions on the Venezuelan government in an attempt to accomplish foreign policy goals that would be beneficial to its geopolitical interests in the region and help the Venezuelan people in the process. This research offers a comprehensive empirical analysis of these sanctions. It aims to identify the effects of US sanctions in Venezuela, as intended by the foreign policy goals of the United States, and to measure the effectiveness of sanctions in accomplishing these goals. Additionally, this research seeks to explain the geopolitical strategy of US sanctions as seen through the lens of geoeconomic theory. It will detail the US intensions of generating regime change, restoring democracy, and improving human rights in Venezuela. More specifically, it will reveal the role of sanctions in acting as a geopolitical tool to fulfill these intentions. Ultimately, the research will show how sanctions and companion policies are intended to improve the US-Venezuela relationship that has declined since the time of Hugo Chavez.

The aim of this thesis is to discuss the concepts of public diplomacy and nation branding, find the link between them, and examine their effect on the economic development in Estonia. This thesis provides a thorough overview of relevant liter- ature on NB and PD. To dive into the practical part of nation branding it discusses the case of globally accepted, effective NB initiatives of Singapore. Moreover, it discusses Estonian's NB campaigns and four main instruments of PD and con- ducts economic analysis to examine the effects of NB and PD in Estonian economy from building credibility and international awareness points of view. To make the economic analysis more valuable and visually comprehensible, all discussed mi- croeconomic and macroeconomic indicators are captured for all three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Both qualitative and quantitative methodolo- gies are used to answer the research question and hypotheses. The study found that NB and PD in Estonia positively affect the reaffirmation of national identity, facilitate business development, and increase international visibility which in turn ensures economic development in the country. Even though various other play- ers and factors are involved in the process of economic development, effectively designed NP and PD could...

Author Samuel Lavoie Thesis Diplomacy and Diplomatic Institutions of Unrecognized De Facto States Somaliland, Transnistria and Artsakh (2020) Abstract As a topic, international recognition has been increasingly studied over the past twenty years, particularly since Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008. This thesis attempts to advance our understanding of the underlying causes of the inability to gain political recognition by examining several factors that have been omitted from the academic literature. Specifically, it examines several key aspects of the diplomatic institutions, personnel, and approaches of three unrecognized de facto states that meet most of the criteria for statehood under international law, but have so far received no recognition recognized states. These entities are Somaliland, Transnistria, and Artsakh. This paper also draws on partially recognized states and finds that geopolitical and ideological factors generally prevail over diplomatic ones as the main drivers of political recognition. This is especially true when an entity is located in an area of fierce rivalry for influence, such as the PMR and the Republic of Artsakh. However, while remaining a secondary factor, diplomacy becomes more important for international recognition when the interests of...

The aim of this diploma thesis is to verify, based on the application of the theories from Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson on the case of South Africa, whether the setting of institutions in the state influences on the function and prosperity of the state. The authors discuss in their book "Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty" about the theory of extractive and inclusive institutions. To explain these terms, they mention the two cities of Nogales (one in the US, the other in Mexico). Although the historical development of these cities was almost identical, especially in cultural terms, today these cities differ in terms of economic, health care or education of the population. The authors consider different types of institutions to be the cause of the differences, as the Mexican ones are rooted in the colonization period of America by the Spain. Conquestadors looted in the colonized territory, enslaved the indigenous peoples, and transported gold, along with other resources from the country back to Europe. The local elites, after decolonization, have adapted to this established order and, in these countries, extractive institutions still remain to this day. On the other hand, inclusive institutions enable and support the involvement of broad masses in economic...

This Bachelor thesis deals with the analysis and comparison of the causes, processes and consequences of the decolonization of former French and British Colonies in West Africa, namely Senegal and Ghana. The work is based on an examination of the hypothesis: "Different systems of colonial administration and their consequences have differently influenced the character of the decolonization process and postcolonial relations between the former colonies and their rulers ". The focal point of the research are factors emanating directly from the colonies, such as the system of colonial administration, the system of colonial education, indigenous elites, and political mobilization. As part of the approach to the theoretical level, the work is based on the concepts of colonialism, decolonization and neocolonialism. It is neo- colonialism that is related to a subsequent research question, which seeks to examine the presence and extent of neo-colonialism in these African countries during the first ten years of independence. The results of the research point to significant differences in the colonial administration, which have implications for the type and behavior of indigenous elites and thus political mobilization and different approaches of political leaders to the process of decolonization. In the...

Announced in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) is a global development project that extends across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Most Western scholars and politicians have been highly critical of the BRI, particularly in connection with sub-Saharan Africa, defining the project as neo-imperialistic and arguing that only China would benefit from it in terms of political, economic, and military expansion. This thesis uses Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria as case studies to measure the effectiveness of the BRI in the development of these three countries. On the basis of this analysis, it can be posited that not only China, but also sub-Saharan African countries, specifically continental coastal democracies with access to natural resources that engage with China as business partners within the BRI's context, derive substantial benefits from their partnerships. To different degrees, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria, are presented with opportunities to improve their infrastructure, enjoy economic growth, and reduce inequality by engaging in the BRI. Key Words:​ ​Sub-Saharan-Africa, China, Belt Road Initiative, development, economics, neo-imperialism, natural resources, infrastructure Title:​ China and Africa: The Dragon in The Lion's Den

Democratization has been dominating international relations since the end of the Cold War. Moreover, democratization assistance became embedded in states' foreign institutions, as it is seen in the examples of the United States and the European Union. As states perceive international relations from a neo-realist perspective, it raises a concern about their reasoning behind democracy promotion. This thesis attempts to find a correlation between states' geopolitical objectives and democratization. Its goal is to prove that democratized countries tend to incline towards the assisting power, and this benefits the assisting power's geopolitical objectives. By studying EU and US geopolitical goals and applying them on the democratization of Ukraine, this thesis attempts to find how democracy promotion in Ukraine benefited the USA and the EU. To support the claim that ideology can be used to pursue geopolitical goals, it draws a parallel with the Communist coup d'état in Czechoslovakia in 1948 and analyzes how the USSR benefited from supporting the Czechoslovak Communist Party. Keywords Democratization, soft power, smart power, Cold War, communism, United States, European Union, USSR, geopolitics, democracy assistance

The main focus of the dissertation is to examine the interactions between Egyptian foreign policy and the domestic, regional and international dramatic changes that shaped the environment in which that foreign policy was made and operated during the Arab Spring in Egypt from January 2011 to June 2013. The goal is to explore whether domestic, regional and international changes during the Arab Spring had resulted in a substantial change of Egyptian foreign policy in those three years regarding most foreign policy issues especially toward Turkey and Palestine. The dissertation's analysis, while rather qualitative and inductive in nature, employed the neoclassical realism as its theoretical framework. It allowed the researcher to identify major domestic players and issues such as ideology, strategic culture, political religion and the ability to mobilize national resources and study their impact on the foreign policy decision makers. The researcher concluded that the Egyptian foreign policy made several major changes during the Arab Spring especially toward Turkey and Palestine/Israel. These changes were due to domestic and regional variables more than to international systemic order's signals. Neoclassical realism proved to be ideal for the researcher's analysis. It helped him easily identify key...

This thesis aims to understand, in the case of the Czech people living along the borders, the extent to which they are, and have become, more "internationally minded" in recent decades. Three theoretical approaches to understand the attitudes of those living along the boundaries are identified as the Realist Securitisation, Liberal Openness and Bordering as a Process paradigms. Descriptions are presented of the historical and demographic nature of the Czech borderlands as well as developments in Czech politics and attitudes to foreigners in the last two decades. Detailed regression analysis at the level of 6,300 individual municipalities is undertaken to empirically test the theoretical paradigms and to control for other factors so as to understand the specific impact of the boundary on the attitudes of those living alongside it. The formation of attitudes is a complex process in which history still seems important and not all interactions with foreigners are seen as improving attitudes towards them. However, against a backdrop of lower support for EU integration and greater concern over immigration in the Czech Republic as a whole, open borders since accession to the EU have coincided with border dwellers becoming in many, but not all, cases less Eurosceptic and less opposed to migrants than is...

The thesis explores the use of the term European Strategic Autonomy in the Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP) of the European Union. The security environment around Europe has become increasingly unstable in the last 15 years. The EU Commission has tried to take account of the deteriorating geopolitical landscape by publishing an EU Global Strategy document in 2016 to share its vision for a stronger Europe. The document calls for strategic autonomy without properly defining it. Since then, many policy papers have captured the term and used it as a popular buzzword. Because it has not been properly defined on the political level, European Strategy Autonomy (ESA) was subject to speculations and national interpretations which did not help to advance the debate. Based on an extensive literature review the paper provides a comprehensive understanding by giving an historic overview and presenting different configurations of ESA in the contemporary context. A comparative case study, including France, Germany, and the Czech Republic has been conducted to assess their interpretation of the notion. The result of the case studies showed inherently different perceptions underlaid by different motivations and identifies the political layer to be the biggest challenge for moving forward with the topic....

In the last decade or so, Iran and Israel have found a new domain where to translate and protract their conflictual relationship: the cyberspace. Since the discovery of Stuxnet both countries have embarked on a significant cyber capabilities build-up, in accordance with their resources, and driven as well by mutual threat and perception of threat they pose to each other. Following their own cyber strategies embedded in their respective broader foreign policy agendas, the two foes confronted each other several times in a cyber feud which lasts to present days. Through the use of Event Data methodology, it is examined quantitatively the impact of cyber conflict on the Iranian- Israeli relationship, when cyber capabilities are utilized as a foreign policy tool vis-à-vis each other. The results of the quantitative study show no significant alteration of the conflict-cooperation dynamics between the dyad of interest due to the utilization of cyber capabilities. Furthermore, the qualitative assessment of the cyber feud shows that the balance of power between the two sides is not affected by increasing cyber capabilities, since Israel has the clear upper hand in the cyberspace. Keywords Iran, Israel, Foreign Policy, Cyber Capabilities, Cyber Conflict, Event Data

This work is trying to establish and answer three questions about the concept of Intermarium: Which concepts of the Intermarium that were formed in the past, are still relevant in modern geopolitical circumstances? What political conditions force the country to become a potential participant of the Intermarium? What minimal number of countries is sufficient enough for membership in the Intermarium to provide its effective activity in the political arena? The questions are answered through the implementation of a comparative method. The chosen method is applied to the selected states of the specified region on the basis of two selected cases that correspond to analogical situations in the history of these countries and resulted in the birth of the concept of the Intermarium as one of the possibilities for solving the political crisis in the historical period, which is chosen for the case. This work with case studies will allow the researcher to obtain a high level of conceptual validity as well as to evaluate the indicators that fully explain the theoretical concepts. Since certain internal and external factors such as political system, political culture, state power, economic independence, defensive capabilities, cultural and historical mentality, membership in international organizations are...

The volume deals with the analysis of the relationship of the two dominant theoretical approaches of European integration - supranational and intergovernmental - towards the EU enlargement policy on the example of the accession process of Montenegro. The research goes into depth by analysing not the complex accession process as such, but the relations and attention of various European institutions and the EU member states to the particular and deliberately selected negotiation chapters of the Acquis Communautaire. The main aim of the thesis is to find out to what extent and whether at all does the behaviour of the EU institutions and its member states by the accession process correspond with the internal structure of the EU policies and competences stipulated in the EU treaties. The thesis succeeded to show that there is no reason to believe that the activities of the supranational institutions of the EU - the Commission and the Parliament - are dominant by chapter which is closely connected to the exclusive competence of the EU or that they would pay any special attention to this chapter. Similarly, there is no explicit proof that the activities of the incumbent EU member states are dominant by chapter which is closely connected to the shared competence of the EU or that they would pay any...

Presenting an authoritative one-party rule since fifty years, the case of Singapore does not concord with the various theories of democratization. After proving that Singapore is not a Liberal-Democracy, we argue that the country manages to create a model of stability both in terms of politics and economy, that act as trade- offs to liberal characteristics. The approach uses a qualitative analysis of the electoral framework, a cultural comprehension of contemporary elements and data on its economic success. Ultimately, this thesis aims at studying the idea that Liberal-Democracy is not a model that necessarily needs to be implemented for the functioning of all nations.