Suchergebnisse

The article argues for a new strategy for Czech IR research which would stimulate local scholars to produce innovative contributions to the international IR discipline. The strategy is supposed to go beyond the emulation of the Anglo-American IR, which currently prevails & which, despite occasional successes, failed in its goals. It aims at innovative contributions with a maximum utilization of the Czech domestic conditions which embed the research. The strategy argues that the relations between Czech IR & the international discipline need to be sustained & even strengthened. At the same time, the Czech research should focus on the Czech political experience by examining the political phenomena by which this experience has been constituted & drawing on the traditions of Czech political thought. Adapted from the source document.

Aufzeichnung einer unter Finanzexperten geführten Diskussion über die Krise, der Globalisierung. Ihr unmittelbarer Anlaß war die finanzwirtschaftliche Krise in Thailand und darauifhin in Japan. An den Ursachen der Asien-Krise hätten sich die Teilnehmer nicht verständigen können. Daher meinten einige von ihnen, es wäre fruchtbarer, darüber zu reden, wie die Risiken der freien Weltwirtschaft einzuschränken seien. Dabei wurde postuliert, daß es eine Aufgabe der Wirtschaftspolitik gäbe, mit der alle, von Keynes bis Friedman, einverstanden wären: Regierungen gemeinsam mit den Zentralbanken trügen die Verantwortung für eine solche Entwicklung der Staatsausgaben, die ein vernünftiges inflationsfreies Wachstum gewährleiste. (BIOst-Hrs)

Zu den aktuellsten Aufgaben der EU gehört der Übergang zur gemeinsamen Währungs-, Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik. Dies setzt grundlegende institutionelle Reformen zugunsten einer vertieften Integration voraus. Hierzu zählt nicht zuletzt die Einführung von Mehrheitsentscheidungen. Das Gros der EU-Bürger verlangt zudem, daß die EU nach gemeinsamen Lösungen auch in der Beschäftigungs- und Sozialpolitik sucht, um ansteigender Massenarbeitslosigkeit und sozialer Spannungen Herr zu werden. Darin zeigt sich, daß die Gemeinschaft bei weitem nicht nur als eine Freihandelszone betrachten wird. Daruaf reduziert hätte sie kaum Überlebenschancen. Zu den christlichen Grundlagen Europas gehört ja Solidarität zwischen Arm und Reich, Starken und Schwachen, entwickelten und zurückgebliebenen Regionen. Die in der Tschechischen Republik dominierende Tendenz - statt Solidarität individuelle Jagd nach Profit - entspricht dem Bild des heutigen Westeuropas nicht. (BIOst-Hrs)

Arctic environmental protection and the protection of species living in the Arctic are subject to a number of multilateral international treaties, bilateral agreements, and instruments of soft law, and they are touched upon by the national laws of the Arctic coastal countries as well. Based on the theoretical approaches of Oran Young, the paper construes the current environmental protection in the Arctic as an international regime. The paper defines the basic features of the Arctic and Antarctic environmental regimes, such as duration, resilience, an institutional structure, internationalization and the agreed procedures and processes of the regime's development. The paper discusses whether their differences (e.g. ocean versus continent, inhabitants, military use) have been reflected in their environmental regimes. By comparing these features and regimes, the paper concludes that the procedure used in the Antarctic might not be fully transferrable to the case of the Arctic. Adapted from the source document.

This study aspires to harness the impulses of the critique of international peace initiatives (IPIs) up to this point for the purposes of improving the practical inquiries into them. In the study, attention is given namely to the questions of the initial normative and epistemological premises of the research. The study argues, in agreement with the precepts of critical political theory, that the inquiry into IPIs should first of all strive to emancipate people in postconflict situations. With respect to the IPIs' general aim of transforming the target countries into stable, independent and prosperous states and societies, the focus is directed at the influence the IPIs exert upon social structures in the postconflict societies. With the aim to conceptualize a basic framework for the research, the contemporary thinking on the IPIs is interpreted with respect to International Relations theories and the fundamental metatheoretical questions of social theories. Consequently, in keeping with the philosophy of scientific realism, a critical constructivist position is formulated for the given purposes. Adapted from the source document.

This article deals with the rules of power distribution and the delegation of power in international security organizations. More specifically, the paper describes and evaluates the delegation of power in the security regimes of the UN, NATO, and the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The paper proceeds from a hypothesis drawing on existing research. According to this hypothesis, the security regime of the UN is marked by a substantial delegation of power, but we can observe only weak power delegations in NATO and the CFSP. So while the UN's security regime can be considered supranational, NATO and the CFSP represent intergovernmental regimes. The analysis carried out in this paper confirms the hypothesis. In comparison with existing literature, however, the paper submits much more precise and concrete findings. Moreover, the paper also forwards a rather unique conceptual and methodological approach for studies of power distribution in international organizations (IOs). In this way, it contributes towards the general study of IOs, which is currently rather stagnant. Adapted from the source document.

The application of Elias's Theory of civilization, in the field of international relations, is the theoretical concept of civilian power. In this analysis, I concluded that there are several attributes that allow the use of military force by civilian power. These attributes consist of: (1) using military force as a last resort for dealing with conflicts, and only when all other means have failed; (2) playing an active role in seeking non-militant ways of crisis resolution and military conflict prevention; (3) conducting only military operations that conform to international law and (4) that intend to support and defend human rights while (5) minimizing destruction and casualties, not only on its own side but also on the side of its enemy and finally, (6) having military operations (with the exception of self defense) take place in a multinational framework, which would not be used as a tool for unilateral policies. Adapted from the source document.

Der amerikanische Ökonom verweist darauf, dass in den vergangenen vier Jahren sieben Länder (Mexiko, Argentinien, Thailand, Südkorea, Indonesien, Malaysia und Hongkong) mehrere Wirtschaftsrezessionen durchmachten, und zwar schlimmere als all jene, die die USA seit den 30er Jahren trafen. Die unmittelbare Ursache - eine schwere Erschütterung, die ein Wunder in ein Debakel verwandelte - stehe für ihn außer Frage: es war der weltumspannende Kapitalmarkt. Solange das Kapital frei fliesse, wären die Länder gegenüber spekulativen Attacken wehrlos. Folgerichtig stellt er die Frage, ob es nicht machbar sei, den internationalen Kapitalfluß einzuschränken. (BIOst-Hrs)

The objective of this article is to provide a survey of basic facts about process of globalization. We can define globalization as the international economic integration through particular markets. Globalization is largely continual & objective process that began approximately in the middle of nineteenth century. Main factors determining globalization are technology & liberalization & also "desire of people to participate in globalization." On the other hand globalization reinforces these factors. Within globalization we can also see two following processes. The essence of the first one is centralization & concentration of production & capital & in the centre of second one stands a process of transnationalization. The results of these tendencies are creation & action of transnational corporations. Today these firms are major entities forming present globalization. It is also necessary to give certain attention to the role of state in current world. References. Adapted from the source document.

This article presents a review of the currently debated options for regulations of activities of private military companies (PMCs). This topic is a matter of pondering in the foreign literature. It primarily reflects on the massive use of PMCs in Iraq and Afghanistan, which, however, merely illustrates the broader shortcomings resulting from the prolonged absence of clearly defined and enforceable mechanisms for the monitoring and control of the accountability, transparency and effectiveness of PMCs' activities. The goal of this article is therefore not only to present the practical, legal, economic, and political pros and cons of the possible regulation frameworks, but also to illustrate why it is still so difficult to reach a consensus on a regulation framework that would be acceptable to all the relevant actors. Adapted from the source document.

The EU Council Presidency is considered a very influential & suitable tool for domestic communication of European integration & its agenda. The article analyses the last ten EU Council Presidencies & their impact on public support to the key elements of European integration. The hypothesis of the article is the argument that the EU Council Presidency in its current form increases support for the European integration (and its key elements) & increases the level of knowledge about European integration among the public. Adapted from the source document.

This article attempts to portray basic aspects of Czech-Cambodian relations from the 16th century until the present day, 2006. It deals with the first reports of Czech missionaries in the 17th & 18th century as well as globetrotters, students, diplomats & specialists from the 19th & 20th century. Diplomatic relations between both countries were established in 1956. Mutual cooperation in the fields of economy, culture & education developed dynamically for the next 14 years, only to be violently interrupted by the Lon Nol's coup d'etat in 1970 followed by the genocidal regime of Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. When the Cambodian United National Salvation Front assisted by Vietnamese troops overthrew Khmers Rouges, the communist government of Czechoslovakia & the leftist regime in Phnom Penh continued to maintain an active relationship. After the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989, mutual economic & trade cooperation fell considerably. Recently, Czechs & Cambodians try to reestablish these past ties of cooperation. The Czech program for developmental aid was favorably received by Cambodia & presently, future joint commercial projects are being discussed. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with the interpretations of development aid that can be found in the Slovak official development discourse. From the theoretical point of view, I build on the social-constructivist approach to the study of international relations as well as on the conceptualization of the logic of appropriateness and the logic of consequences as put forward by March and Olsen (1989). In the first part of the article, I address the theoretical and methodological issues of the research. In the following parts, I analyze official documents of the Slovak ODA policy and my own interviews with its stakeholders with a focus on the different interpretations and logics of action behind the policy. In the concluding part, I summarize the main research findings. Adapted from the source document.

The presented paper describes the first membership of Czechoslovakia in the International Monetary Fund in the post-war period & the circumstances of its expulsion from this institution in 1954. Although Czechoslovakia was one of the founding members of the Bretton-Woods institutions & its relationship with the IMF looked promising at the beginning, the communist political take-over in February 1948 implied substantial change in this development. It was followed by the introduction of a centrally planned economic system & by a shift in the country's foreign-political orientation toward the East. The reason for Czechoslovakia's exclusion from the Bretton-Woods institutions was its repeated non-performance of the member state duties according to the Articles of Agreements of the IMR The main problem was that Czechoslovakia systematically refused to inform the IMF about developments in its economy & consult relevant monetary & economic arrangements with the IMF. Adapted from the source document.