Suchergebnisse

This paper has two objectives. Firstly, I would like to introduce the conceptual framework for foreign policy analysis: the so-called role theory. In order for us to explain & understand the foreign policies of nation-states, the role theory focuses on the reasoning of national political elites, their understanding of the international system & the perceived role of their own states within this larger system. I will introduce the concepts of the role theory, its epistemological underpinning & the most important analytical applications of it. Secondly, I intend to make a contribution to the discussions about the application of social constructivism (as an IR theory) to foreign policy analysis. Thanks to its metatheoretical assumptions & conceptual outfit, the role theory is an appropriate candidate for bridging the gap between constructivist IR theory & FPA. Adapted from the source document.

The article is an analysis of the metaphor of Munich Agreement in the Czech political & media discourses concerning three foreign policy issues from the last three years: the discord about the diplomatic recognition of Kosovo by the Czech Republic, the discussion of the conflict between Russia & Georgia & the issue of the US radar base in the Czech Republic. The text does not aspire to judge which usage of the analogy with Munich is correct. Instead, it works with it as a specific frame which is intended to mobilize a presupposed national "us" for a specific political agenda. The goal is to depoliticize the political discord -- to solve it by referring to a morally strong precedent & subordinate it to this precedent. Munich is used in this way by the followers of very different political camps. Using the analogy of Munich has two main modalities -- the interventionist modality (it is necessary to intervene against a dictator, not to appease him) & the sovereignist modality (it is necessary to defend the sovereignty of the state against an intervention or against aggressive demands of minorities). The former is more in accord with the use of the Munich analogy by Western politicians, while the latter corresponds more with the Czech context center. Adapted from the source document.

What shapes a European Union member state's preferences & why do some states seem much more enthusiastic about further integration in some policy areas than others? This paper examines the factors which shape the preferences of three of the 2004 entrants: Slovakia, Slovenia & the Czech Republic. Based on a detailed study of government & party documents complemented by a series of 40 semi-structured interviews, I argue that whilst there is merit in many of the explanations used to explain national preference formation in the longer-established member states, the key to preference formation lies in vulnerabilities & perceived weakness. Adapted from the source document.

Czech Republic started deploying its soldiers abroad shortly after the fall of communism. However, there are still questions which need to be answered: What were the main motives for sending out these operations? Did they change in time? How strong is the political consensus in this matter? These questions are answered by conducting a content analysis of political debates in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament from 1999 to 2009. Based on theoretically founded analytical categories, the article conducts a quantitative survey of the discourse, which is then interpreted in relation to key variables (eg., the positions of supporters & opponents of the missions, types of operations). The resulting findings reveal the motives which helped legitimize the decisions on deployments during the period under review & demonstrate the tensions which threaten to undermine the existing political consensus. Adapted from the source document.

In this article the author argues the thesis on the necessity of scientific cooperation, interaction and holistic approach for appropriate explanation of the contemporary crisis. It is of great importance to define conceptual frameworks of the crisis, together with main spots in the analysis of the crisis amalgam. The key thesis is the necessity of transformation in the structure of political-economic and social organisation of contemporary states/societies. It includes transformation of completeness of interactions between structures and actions which constitute societal community through reformistic confidence in public policy. With the help of Parsons and Luhmann, the author indicates the structure of contemporary imbalance which he perceives as spillovers of the economic in all other societal subsystems. He displays the thesis of de-democratization of democracy. Finally, he demonstrates the structural character and the means of functioning of the contemporary crisis on the example of Higher education. Adapted from the source document.

This research deals with the stages of development of the political order of Florence, focusing on the changes of the republican order. Starting from Machiavelli's Florentine Histories, which set forth a criticism of the first period of republican government until the establishment of the Medici seigniory, the author also analyses the other two stages of republican government in Florence. He thus puts together a periodization of three republican models of Florence during the Renaissance, which he refers to as the First, Second & Third Republics. The period of the First Republic stretches from 1250 to 1434, until the establishment of the first Medici seigniory. The period of the Second Republic, which lasted from 1498 to 1512, is assessed here as the period of a mature republic, which also witnessed a clear-cut defining of the theory of civil republicanism, primarily through the works of Machiavelli & Guicciardini. The Second Republic ended with the Medici restauration, when the republican government was once again suspended, & the republican institutions were abolished, although the state formally retained the designation of republic. After the fall of Rome in 1527, the Medici rule in Florence also collapsed, & the period of the Third Republic began; it lasted from 1527 to 1530. This short stretch of time saw a radicalization of the Florentine republicanism, but the social antagonism within the city-state was also radicalized. For this reason, the Third Republic did not manage to withstand the internal tensions & conflicts, & thus to face a deteriorated international state of affairs. The republican government collapsed again & made way for the second Medici restauration. The author describes & analyses in the text the republican institutions & their metamorphoses from the First Republic to the Third Republic, as well as the attempts to stabilize the republican government & realize Machiavelli's theory of the mixed form of government. The Florentine political order is therefore outlined as a development from communal democracy to civil republicanism with strong democratic elements, which, as a result of historical circumstances, was superseded by oligarchic forms of government. Adapted from the source document.

This article addresses the question of the relationship between Croatia & the Balkans as a geographical & civilisational space & the way it shaped discursive changes in the immediate post-Tudman period which started in the year 2000. The focus of the study is the articulation of 'the West' & 'the Balkans' in the Croatian political discourse that leads to the argument that a deeper cooperation between Croatia & the European Union is closely connected with the reconstruction of Croatian identity. The problem of the Balkans as the 'radical other' to the Croatian subject & difficulties in cooperation with that region demanded a thorough examination of Croatian identity & its relations with ethics & responsibility as promoted by the European Union. The study employs discourse analysis as a method of analyzing the text, which is rooted in the post-structuralist theoretical approach. Adapted from the source document.