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A comprehensive description of just causes for entering a war within the fundamental sources of early Confucian tradition represents the core of the article. The analysis seeks to underline the significant role of the just war theory in contemporary international politics. The article also highlights the rise of the economic, political and military power of China and emphasizes that the country has the potential to play an increasingly important role in world politics over the next few decades. Thus it is necessary to examine the way China is looking at issues of war and ethics. Since there has been evidence uncovered that Confucianism has started to gain influence in Chinese society again, it seems fully acceptable to analyse just war from a Confucian perspective. The main focus of the research is put on exploring works of the founders of Confucianism, particularly the texts of Confucius and Mencius. The analysis of these works uncovers that the main ethical principles of early Confucian teaching allow for various specific reasons for entering a war. Then in the conclusion there is a list of five different types of conflicts that can be assessed as justifiable under certain conditions in Confucian thought. Adapted from the source document.

This essay addresses the issue of how to transcend the long-lasting stalemate between positivism and various forms of post-positivism. The main assumption rests in the belief that one of the possible solutions to this stalemate can be offered by replacing the positivism versus postpositivism debate by a discussion between scientific realism and pragmatism. The article thus starts with a brief characterization of logical positivism, which is followed by a more thorough deliberation on the issue of pragmatism and scientific realism. The text raises questions of the mutual incompatibilities of both positions, as well as their respective influence on the discipline of International Relations. It is also argued that by adopting one or another of these philosophies of science, we can bring about specific consequences for actual research practices. Adapted from the source document.

The breakup of Yugoslavia & especially the war in Bosnia & Herzegovina made many people ask a simple question: Why did this happen? The main goal of this article is to give an answer to this question. More specifically, the article asks: Why did the "eastern" concept of nationalism prove to be more successful than the "western" one during the time of social & political changes in Yugoslavia? Although the article focuses on the end of the 1980s & the beginning of the 1990s, it also touches on some aspects of the historical background. Before explaining the ideological fragmentation in Yugoslavia & Bosnia & Herzegovina, the article defines the term nationalism with a special focus on the differentiation between "eastern" & "western" versions of this ideology/doctrine. References. Adapted from the source document.

The article offers a brief account of the history of Hungarian sociology during four decades of communist rule in Hungary. Beginning with the brief existence of the first department of sociology in Hungary (the 'Szalai Institute', 1946-1948) the author describes the field in the 1950s, when for political reasons sociology was marginalized to the point of extinction. The revival of sociology in Hungary during the 1960s is devoted considerable attention from an institutional, a personal & a doctrinal point of view. The author analyses the main branches of study in Hungarian sociology at the time, including critical sociology & the study of social stratification, which overcame the rigidity of official Marxist-Leninist doctrine. She characterizes the last two decades of state socialism in Hungary as a period when sociology both suffered from increased political repression (stronger in the early 1970s than later) & at the same time became more & more professional. She argues that a determining feature of the history of Hungarian sociology between 1948 & 1989 was its strong connection to politics. However, sociology & politics had a mutual influence on one another during this period, as sociology also had an impact on the way Communist Party officials approached the structure of Hungarian society. In the process, sociology evolved & was professionalized, enabling its existence as an autonomous discipline today.

The aim of the contribution is to examine and analyse prosecutor's notice by which prosecutor performs supervision of compliance with the law and generally binding legal regulations by public administration. The contribution's aim is not just a description of current legal state but in addition of that the authors try to make reference to problem issues of the legislation de lege lata as well as several unclear theoretical and application questions whose analysis and answering is part of the content of this contribution. In connection with processed issues the authors off er certain recommendations and propositions which could pro futuro fi nd its application not only in the legal regulation of the prosecutor's notice, but also in the case of supervision of compliance with the legitimacy in public administration.

The article looks into Austrian attitude to security co-operation in Central Europe. Austria has arrived at a very flexible definition of its neutrality concept. The recent security & defense doctrine (2001) describes Austria not as a neutral but as a "non-allied state." In has introduced the principle of "European solidarity" in the Austrian security policy. The neutrality, however, remains to be a sensitive political issue, which splits the Austrian society. The regional partnership has created a new regional platform, which has produced positive results in several policy sectors. At the same time, the real political potential of the co-operation has yet to be seen, mainly in the course of the EU-enlargement. The security dimension of regional co-operation has developed with some dynamism. It testified willingness & ability of the military & experts to work with regional partners. Nonetheless, the co-operation has remained largely low-key. The reasons are, firstly, that the prioritizing of the orientation of Austria to the West prevented Vienna from an active regional policy for most of the 1990s. Secondly, & in the long run even more crucially, the non-allied status of Austria hampers the security co-operation in the most crucial areas: defense, sharing of sensitive information, sharing & thus cutting the costs of rearmament & modernization of the armed forces & of the defense infrastructure. References. Adapted from the source document.

The article aims to introduce the phenomenon of public diplomacy, highlighting the key features of the concept. The author is looking into why public diplomacy is worth of the attention of academics, pointing out the reasons for considering public diplomacy a relevant & legitimate segment of foreign policy -- and not just a trendy phrase. The article presents a brief overview of the development of public diplomacy so far, identifying the main reasons for public diplomacy being an important item on today's foreign policy agenda. Seeking to clarify what public diplomacy is & what its implications are, the author highlights some core features of public diplomacy & their temporal & thematic change. The article also touches upon the relationship between public diplomacy & propaganda, branding, international cultural relations & traditional diplomacy. The author concludes with effective public diplomacy strategies & preconditions for its further development. Adapted from the source document.

The article outlines the main theoretical models of nuclear proliferation and the motives that are driving states to obtain nuclear weapons. It also focuses on theoretical concepts dealing with variants and alternatives of the future fate of nuclear arsenals and roles played by nuclear weapons. Attention is also paid to the roles of nuclear weapons in the past views of Great Britain and France. The article analyses their motives for joining the nuclear club and also the reasons that led them to keep their nuclear arsenals in the second nuclear age. The authors conclude that these two countries were driven to cross the nuclear threshold not just by security motives, but by other motives as well. Because of the fact that some such motives remain relevant even today, it is rather unlikely to presume that the two states would be willing to abolish their nuclear arsenals in the foreseeable future. Adapted from the source document.

The Czech Republic is often said to be one of the most secular countries in Europe, or even in the world. For this, in accord with the secularization thesis, the modernization is often mentioned, where it was supposed that it automatically leads to the decline of religion in society. In my paper, I recapitulate the basic points of the secularization thesis and dissect its criticism which seems to be aimed at the idea, that secularization represents just an unintended effect of modernization. Based on this criticism, I deduce resources for analysis of the religious situation in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, I prove that Czech society is not so much atheist, but more dechristianized, and I focus on reasons of this dechristianization in political, social and class conflicts, which had, according to my opinion, a great impact on Czech church's religionism. In this paper, I address the conflicts between socialist movement and the Catholic Church, which as a result had a substantial effect on the dechristianization of the czech working class.

"This article deals with the relationship between public opinion and rumour from ancient times, through the Middle Ages and right up to today. It will examine the terms which were used and which often depended not just on a particular author but usually an entire social class. The most often used terms to describe opinion, fama and existimatio, occurred in the speeches of politicians which were presented as the valuable opinions of the elite whereas the concepts opinio, rumor or sermo were considered as low value and unreliable opinions of plebeians to whom the ruling classes attributed the spreading and creation of rumours. The concept of fama, more often fama publica, indicated in the Middle Ages a local network of knowledge, a mechanism for the collective evaluation of an individual. In this sense it played an important role in the courts of law. The issue of rumours is common to all subsequent historical periods because public opinion usually both generated, and was supported, by rumour. The article also puts forward a hypothesis why the all-powerful fama dissapeared from the courtrooms, why it lost its significance and became purely a rumour." (author's abstract)

The first question that we ask ourselves in our article is whether the accounting of the central bank is supposed to respect the principles of internationally accepted standards (especially the International Financial Reporting Standards). We are looking for the basic differences in understanding of terms such as (il)liquidity & (in)solvency on the level of central & commercial banking. We analyze the economic reasons for origination of the long foreign exchange position of the CNB which, under the circumstances of trend appreciation of the exchange rate of the Czech crown, is leading to a cumulative loss. We are discussing whether the current level of foreign exchange reserves of the CNB is excessive or adequate. Special attention is paid to the monetary & financial impact of the loss of the central bank. We are pointing out that losing the central bank means profit for market subjects at the same time. It is not just a "fictitious" accounting problem & it can have its factual impact on the national economy. At the end we are summarizing & assessing the individual opinions regarding the loss of the CNB. Adapted from the source document.

This paper seeks to find out to what extent the process of EU accession has influenced legal regulations concerning the creation & functioning of social & political actors. Through the analysis of various statutes & changes made to them, the paper tries to determine the role the EU plays in amending assembly legislation. The actors under scrutiny include political parties, professional organizations, labor unions, & civil society organizations. The paper concludes that the most influenced field of actors was the area of chambers of professionals which was obliged to conform to requirements for the free movement of people & services in the European Union in order to comply with European law. The Czech Republic was quite leisurely in their harmonization of statutes, with the majority of them passed just before accession to the EU. An interesting part of the problem concerns the question of political party membership, which is still reserved only for Czech citizens. However, European citizenship, with its voting rights to the European Parliament & local magistrates, is arguably going to push slowly for change even in this domain. Adapted from the source document.

This article presents a detailed analysis of the Civic Forum as the most important vehicle of changes in the first stage of the development of the Czech party system. It aims at two interrelated goals: first, to describe & adequately elaborate processes within the Civic Forum, which should serve to explain internal divisions in this movement & the emergence of various streams within the Civic Forum as their immediate consequence. Second, it intends to outline ideological positions within the Civic Forum, thus identifying a logic of the future developments in the Czech party system & distribution of its subjects on the left-right scale. Moreover, the article traces back through the history of the Civic Forum influences of ideas of the non-political politics & their permanent clashes with attempts to establish Civic Forum as a hierarchical political party. The article concludes that the Civic Forum significantly contributed both to the establishment of the Czech party system just in the shape it acquired within its further development, & to the emergence of the major Czech parties of the right. 36 References. Adapted from the source document.