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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.

The diploma thesis entitled "Geostrategic Importance of Greenland" deals with the current geopolitical position of the island in the context of advancing climate change. This brings Greenland many opportunities, but also threats that could affect its further development. The main aim of the work is therefore to examine how the geographical location of the island in combination with the advancing climate change affects its development, especially towards the future full independence from the Kingdom of Denmark. The work maps the current situation of Greenland in terms of newly emerging opportunities as well as the threats it also faces. Furthermore, the work focuses on the relationship between Greenland and Denmark and tries to describe the strategic importance of the island for Denmark. Although the Arctic is an area where states have cooperated in the past decades, in recent years tensions have been growing in the region between the Russian Federation, which is increasing its military presence there, and Western states represented by the North Atlantic Alliance. In addition, China is trying to penetrate the region, which is not indifferent to the strategic importance of the region, and other non-Arctic actors, led by the European Union, are also turning their attention to the region. The...

Neoclassical realism has the ability to advance our understanding of foreign policy responses through the recently designed neoclassical realist model. However as international relations have proven, a theory is not a concrete motionless design. Improvements can be made and the fluidity of theory allows social sciences to adapt and advance. This thesis introduces developments to neoclassical realism by stating that the individual factors and intervening variables hold varying degrees of importance that alter between each foreign policy decision. There is no overarching set of instructions for 'foreign policy', rather an adaptable model that takes into consideration the geopolitical arena, the state and the statesman. The case study chosen for this thesis is the Russian foreign policy response to annex Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Analysis and comparisons of the variables resulted in three factors standing out as most significant. The most important influence within the systemic stimuli was the nature of the strategic environment and the window of opportunity that arose in Crimea due to Ukrainian political and military instability. The intervening variable leader images proved to be the decisive factor, as the consolidation of power by Vladimir Putin allowed the annexation to be completed...

This bachelor thesis is focused on the matter of Syrian Kurdistan. Starting with brief history of the entire Kurdish ethnic group and the development of Kurdish status in Syria in the 20th century, along with Kurdish political parties, it explores the progress of Syrian Kurdistan's since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. It emphasizes the involvement of Syrian Kurds and their supporters in the war, the purpose is to analyse the Kurdish position in the clash and to describe the relationship of the superpowers to the question of Syrian Kurdistan after the end of the conflict. The thesis primarily aims at linking the development of Rojava's autonomy with Kurdish participation in the war and transformation the strength of their position at the regional and international level during and after the war.

The Silk road project has been announced in 2013 by Chinese president Xi Jinping as a reaction to economic crisis and following efforts to find new business partners and opportunities. Initiative restores the idea of the ancient Silk road and has two parts, maritime and overland. This bachelor thesis focuses on the New Silk Road and specifically its Maritime Silk Road Initiative of the 21st century, and area of the Indian ocean. At the beginning of this thesis I dedicate short chapter to the policies of the main actors in the Indian ocean to the initiative Belt and Road. For the purposes of my work I have chosen four port facilities. It is a port of Gwadar in the southwest of Pakistan, Hambantota port in the south region of Sri Lanka, Kyaukpyu port in the northwest of Myanmar and the Chinese naval base in Djibouti. I use two theoretical concepts in my thesis. The first concept is the geopolitical theory of Mahan, Mackinder and Spykman. As the second concept I have used the theoretical framework for the security by Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde, the representatives of the Copenhagen school. I have adjusted their sectoral division for the purposes of my research. Each of the cases was analysed based on four categories: Military sector, Political sector, Economic sector and Environmental...

The work deals with the geopolitical evaluation of the development in Latin America through local geopolitical production of Spanish-speaking countries. The aim is to draw attention to the missing voice of Latin America in the global arena at the beginning of the 21st century. The thesis focuses firstly on the formulation of examined hypotheses and the definition of the studied area, and clarifies basic concepts and definitions. After the theoretical introduction and familiarization with the key concepts, the thesis moves into the area of Latin America where the thesis introduces the geopolitical development from both theoretical and practical point of view. The thesis aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current geopolitical dynamics of the region. According to the established hypothesis, it aspires to either refute or confirm whether Latin America is able to deal with several internal problems and establish itself in the international system at the beginning of the millennium.

The submitted diploma thesis focuses on the role of Russian federation within the post-communist area. The thesis describes the development of the Russian foreign policy, with regard to the post-soviet area, from the disintegration of the Soviet Union to the present. The attention is paid to the idea of the eurasianism and atlantism , which became the most popular in the Russian foreign policy. The other part of the thesis presents the detailed analysis of the development of the Russian federation's relations with the other states and its degree of influence of alternative actors. The greatest attention is paid to the situation in the Caucasus and Central Asia, because in these areas is the most noticeable influence of alternative actors.

There were several changes from the global point of view during last decades. The European Union has enlarged itself by more than half of new members and it represents the biggest area of free trade in the world. Political integration of this unique international organization has also taken a place by accepting new treaties. Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union overcame with the legacy of this empire and not only due to its geographical area is one of the world superpower now. The Balkans was from the historical view area of clashes between European powers and it is valid until now. The European Union has offered to Western Balkans countries full membership on behalf of Stabilisation and association agreement. On the other hand Russia expands its mainly economic interests with regional overlap and that's why the researched region swelled its geopolitical and geoeconomic significance. Thesis called "Balkans as geopolitical and geoconomic area between the European Union and Russian Federation" separated up to three connected parts. Theoretical and methodological part anchors thesis from theoretical perspective, presents operationalization of variables and defines the hypothesis. The most quantitatively extensive analytical part, which is divided into two parts, is focused on application of...

The work deals with geopolitics of inner solar system with focus on extraterrestrial celestial bodies. First part deals with definitions, delimitation of researched territory, and definition of researched questions. Afterwards, we deal with basics of astrophysics which is necessary precondition for understanding specifics of astropolitics and the issue of space- faring actors. Here, both state and non-state actors, their capacities and ability to become colonizing actor, are assessed. The work continues with exploration of single celestial bodies - Earth's Moon, Mars and its moons, and smaller bodies like asteroids. The final chapter scratches the issues crucial for space colonization such as sovereignty and weaponization. Based on these factors, few models of space colonization are presented. Conclusion then sums up all our findings and geopolitical map of "blue planet's" neighbourhood is presented.

The new fact that the environment is becoming the main factor of geopolitical transformations in the Arctic region has been triggered mainly by climate change. In the North, this recent aspect of geopolitics, in correlation with the environment, leads sometimes to tensions between countries, but also to a need for cooperation. The question brought by such conditions is, to which extent will this climate change provoke cooperation or conflicts between the Arctic states. The purpose of addressing the problem is to understand what kind of challenges would be facing the international relations between circumpolar countries and how the environment is playing a geopolitical role in them. The objective of the main research question is to assess the importance of climate change over the geopolitics of the Arctic through several spheres of geopolitics: environment and bio-diversity, economic activity of the region, sovereignty and territoriality, security of the circumpolar states, and international and diplomatic relations. The trans-border and transnational nature of environmental issues is another important factor, since nature does not respect human-made boundaries and an environmental concern, such as climate change and its aftermaths, cannot be exclusive to a state along the lines of its borders.

Friček, Michal.. Changes of geopolitical map of Balkan and their influence on security of the Czech Republic. Prague: Charles University in Prague. Faculty of Social Sciences. 2012. Number of words: 20 435. Number of letters: 125 104. Supervisor: Doc. PhDr. Bořivoj Hnízdo, PhD. This work evaluates objective risks for security of the Czech Republic resulting from geopolitical changes in Balkan according to respective security sectors. It is done specifically in military, social and political security. Evolution of these threats is compared with dynamic of military conflicts on territory of western Balkan. That is base for assessment of adequacy of securitization of these problems on the part of Czech security authorities. Keywords: security of the Czech Republic - Balkan geopolitics

The submitted dissertation tries to introduce neoclassical geopolitics as a viable approach to the study of international politics from geographical perspective. The dissertation is a compact of six already published articles and a common introduction highlighting main points of the articles and further discussing some issues which were (i) eliminated due to space constrains, or (ii) their significance is rather contextual, in the sense that they set the articles into broader discussions. The first part of the thesis (supported by two articles) deals with a current stage of political geography and geopolitics. The main result is that geopolitics is today a divided (sub)discipline, as geographers are mainly engaged in critical geopolitics and scholars of the International Relations continue in classical geopolitical reasoning (namely those who subscribe themselves under the label of neorealism). The main difference is that geographers consider space as an inter-subjective entity - socially constructed, whereas IR scholars tend to see space as an objective factor. In the combination with other epistemological differences, this different consideration of space has produced an exorbitant barrier between these two fields. One factor dividing the two approaches looms especially large - it is an arduous...

Bachelor thesis is focused on a progress in four Sub-Saharan countries (Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia and Rwanda) during Cold War and the 90's and on a role of United States of America in this progress. How relations of Cold War allies or enemies determinate the current Africa policy of United States is the fundamental question of this thesis. Author uses Mill's Method of Agreement. Intervention or involvement in ethnic or civil conflict in the 90's was chosen as a dependent variable. It should symbolize growing U.S. interest in the country. Nondependent variables are factors which can affect the decision making process of intervention - Cold War collaboration, involvement in the proxy war, humanitarian aid or military assistance, troops training. Thesis uses empirical-analytical approach. First and second chapter are moreover focused on complex U.S. Africa Policy, on its development and current situation. They describe humanitarian and other agencies and also approaches of U.S. presidents since the end of the Second World War. Other chapters are written as a One Case Studies, the comparison of them as well as problems of intervention are included in last chapter.

Work describes and predicts future development in geopolitical situation in the region of the Arctic Ocean. Problematic is covered with regard to melting of the Arctic iceberg leading to access of mineral resources under the sea floor, as well as to opening of so-called Northern Route as the shortest sea route between Far East and European markets. Thesis is a case study, which creates the most probable development in the region and its conflict potential based on study of available sources. Specific points covered in the text are, after geographically limiting the area and summing up the historical process, problematic of peak oil and sketching probability of melting of the Arctic iceberg. Second part covers the question of recovering of the mineral resources in the area - oil and natural gas as the most important. It also deals with dependence of the countries in the area on the drilling and with impacts of the possible drilling in the Arctic Ocean on the situation inside these countries. Last topic covered in this part are tools a conventions of the sea law dealing with setting of so-called Exclusive economic zones and technical difficulties of the mining process. Third part covers topic of availability of Northern Route and North-west Passage and their fallout on the trade between Far East and Europe...

This work aims to fill the gap in the civil scientific agenda by offering its own, two- stage version of a systemic, dynamic, and interdisciplinary analysis of the developments in the Arctic transborder region; by fixing the region"s southern border at the Arctic Circle, adjusting to the premises of new geopolitics, using systemic modeling, and viewing geostrategic analysis as an obligatory academic contribution to the "art" of statecraft.The first stage of analysis is inductive, descriptive, and static. It defines the Arctic region as a system of five geostrategic action spaces, physical space (S1), military space (S2), economic space (S3), demographic space (S4), and information space (S5). After defining essential elements of the physical environment, social network analysis is applied on four human-constructed geostrategic spaces (S2-S5) - i.e. the basic networks of relationship (links) between the key actors (nodes) are created. Matrices of symmetrical relationships for military space (S2), economic space (S3), and demographic space (S4) are constructed to demonstrate the links" intensity. In order to illustrate the fact that changes in one action space ultimately transform other spaces, ten possible channels of inter-space affection are illustrated. The second stage of analysis is deductive,...

This thesis focuses on the analysis of contemporary trends in the global gas sector by highlighting major milestones in the relationship between energy 'producer' and 'consumer' states, and assessing eventual development of the gas sector with a special emphasis on Transnational Corporations. The research applies a SWOT analysis (the assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of the Russian gas sector in order to promote a greater understanding of recent trends in the country's gas market, analyze its impact on the global gas industry, and provide an assessment for the future of the country's energy sector. In this regard, the study argues that the Russian gas sector is determined by the large scale of the country's territory, the dominance of gas in the fuel balance of the country, unstable economy of the gas industry, and emerging trends of the scarcity of gas. Based on the analysis of opportunities and challenges of creating a 'gas OPEC', the study concludes that there are prospects for a creation of such an organization in the long-run, due to growing gas demand. However, the thesis argues that in order for Russia to become a potential member of such an organization and promote further development of the country's gas sector, there is a need to diversify its gas supplies,...

Diploma thesis "Astropolitics" analyses of the evolution of the geopolitical a strategic thought from the classical geopolitical school of Mackinder to the Astropolitik, which is the brainchild of E.Dolman. This essay is focused mainly on space and on the military doctrines and strategies that were applied to it from Cold war to the present. The last capitol analyses the potential of the environment in the present and in the imminent future. A last thought will be dedicated to the cyberspace. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)