Suchergebnisse

Within the context of the ongoing scholarly debate on post-accession compliance in the Central and Eastern European new member states, this paper examines the implementation of EU environmental policy in the Czech Republic since 2004, focusing on the transposition and application of six EU directives. It argues that, while the Czech Republic has had some difficulty complying with EU environmental law since becoming a member state, overall its performance in this area does not conform to pessimistic scenarios, but instead presents a more complex and differentiated picture. It also discusses the main factors inhibiting and supporting the implementation of EU environmental policy in the Czech Republic, showing that these tend to vary according to the specific issue or directive concerned. Adapted from the source document.

This article deals with the European integration policy of the Holy See from the 1950s until the resignation of Benedict XVI at the beginning of 2013. The goal of the study is to describe the integration policies of individual popes in the context of political science theories. In the first half of the study we will briefly introduce the major typologies of political science for the study of integration policies of political parties. From the list of the existing approaches, we choose the typology of Petr Kaniok as the most appropriate for this study. In the second half of the study, individual popes are classified according to the framework of Kaniok's typology. The goal of the study is not only to investigate the major moves in the integration policy of the Holy See, but also to utilize a theoretical approach traditionally used for the study of political parties on the issue of the Holy See. Adapted from the source document.

In the current issue of international relations we bring readers an interview with Professor Peter Drulak. It follows on interviews with important figures in the field of international relations, which we published in 2010 and 2011 Petr Drulak is a researcher at the Institute of International Relations (DPE), where from 2004-2013 he worked as a director. He teaches at the Department of International Relations at the Institute of Political Studies Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. Monograph is the author of several textbooks including the first Czech Theories of International Relations (Drulak 2003) and political research methodology (Drulak 2008a). He published many scientific articles and chapters focusing on international relations theory, European integration and the Czech foreign policy. In his last book, Politics disinterest (Drulak 2012) is devoted crisis policy in the Czech Republic and the West. In 2000-2004 he was chief editor of International Relations, is currently a member of the editorial board. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of this article is to contribute to the discussion of the political economy of trade policy. We also focus on the issue of foreign agricultural trade policy in the contemporary Czech Republic. We assume that in the Czech discourse the position of economic nationalism and mercantilism is clearly dominant. We would like to demonstrate this through a content analysis of several major Czech journals. We also believe that the arguments of those who request further regulation of agricultural trade are not much different from those articulated in the discussion between the free trade stance and the mercantilist stance. Even though the prevailing arguments of classical economists are still not entirely accepted in the Czech Republic (certainly not in its economic policy), the strong mercantilist position in favor of the primary sector in the country, which has a strong comparative advantage in industrial production, is nevertheless an interesting object of research interest. Adapted from the source document.

The survey Values and Society During the Covid-19 Pandemic (HODYSE 2020) was designed and conducted by researchers at the Institute for Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences to obtain up-to-date data on public opinion in six thematic areas: social trust, politics and democracy, conspiracy theories, vaccination, environment and leisure.
The year 2020 was a year of significant socio-political changes. Since the beginning of the year, the most important topic in the public debate and in the media has been the global pandemic of COVID-19 disease. The pandemic became a central issue of both the ending and the new government after the parliamentary elections in February 2020.
Findings from opinion polls have allowed us to capture how a pandemic has changed the traditional view of values, and how traditionally examined values have taken on new meanings. The data also document the severity of the pandemic situation during which the research was conducted (November 2020). In this context, the topics that resonated most in the public debate on COVID-19 were addressed - questions about vaccination, health concerns and the economic situation of respondents, or compliance with the measures.

The ambition of the paper is to analyze the major characteristics of the Chinese energy policy towards the most important producers of natural gas in Chinas neighborhood. The analytical perspectives of a strategic approach to energy security and state-centric realism are used to work with case studies of Sino-Russian and Sino-Turkmen relations from the energy security perspective. The paper concludes that Chinas energy policy towards the given producers in Russia and Turkmenistan comes significantly close to the selected analytical perspectives and that natural gas has become an important part of the strategic considerations of the Chinese political leadership. This conclusion, however, applies more to Turkmenistan and less to Russia, as in the case of the Sino-Russian relations, both parties fail to achieve a mutual complementarity, and economic thinking prevails over Beijing's strategic interests. Adapted from the source document.

Religion in contemporary Europe has been forced out of politics but religious themes repeatedly return in European politics. The article deals with the question of how the Catholic faith, as a symbol of identification, and the political and social issues conditioned by Catholic faith influence current European policy. Sociological research has indicated a link between identification with the Church and social attitudes, and the influence of religious identification on the approach toward European integration. The key theme of the article is the analysis of religious topics at the political level and the consequences of the struggle of the cross, as well as the resulting influence on political or judicial power in European countries. Using specific examples, it is shown that some of the manifestations of the Catholic faith represent an identification symbol and that religious themes have remained strong. Adapted from the source document.

The article analyses the changes in norm enforcement in the EU that were triggered by the Eurozone crisis. It attempts to demonstrate that the Eurozone crisis contributed to a 'transplantation' of conditionality instruments (which traditionally exist within the EU's external relations) into the internal operations of the European Union. In particular, the article identifies which new internal rule-enforcement mechanisms of the EU share common structural features with the external EU conditionality (e.g. a vague legal framework; the use of the expertise of non-EU actors; an excess of competencies conferred to the EU; the institutional weakening of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Court of Justice; the format of the sanctions). The article comes to the conclusion that the formation of the EU's internal conditionality occurred mainly within the instruments aimed at the crisis management of public finances of the Eurozone states (the EFSF, the EFSM, and the ESM), but it also concludes that there was an expansion of the new EU conditionality into other areas of the European integration, such as the Schengen cooperation and cohesion policy. Adapted from the source document.

The Chechnya conflict itself broke out yet during the existence of the USSR - in September 1991. On 11 October 1992. Dudayev announced the state of emergency as a reaction to the mobilization of Russian military forces at the borders with Chechnya. The Russian troops left their positions at the Chechen borders only on 18 November 1992. ... In one year after the outbreak of the war, Moscow's policy on Chechnya (1995) returned to the beginning the necessity. to solve the Chechen prob1em by "Chechen hands" and not by military force. It became the central topic of the election campaign before the elections to the State Duma which took place on 17 December 1995. ... From a short-term point of view, it would be possible to speak about the consequences on the presidential elections in 1996, from a broader point of view it is about the permanent presence of official violence in the Soviet-Russian history of the 20th century which forms the basis of a specific "Russian way". This factor has always influenced the contents, the orientation and the result of all processes (economic, social, spiritual, ethical etc.) that is confirmed by the political events in Russia not only in 1995 but mainly from 1985 up to today. (SOI : MO: S. 79f.)

The Caspian region is one from the most oil- and gas-rich regions in the world. The estimated oil and gas reserves are believed to be around 16 billion tons. The geological location of the most perspective oil and gas fields at the Caspian shelf determines the policy of littoral states concerning the legal status of the basin which has not been solved yet. Oil- and gas-rich Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have proposed the division of the Caspian Sea into five sectors according to terrestrial border points. The Russian Federation and Iran (without real oil and gas perspectives in their believed sectors) are opposing this attitude and are insisting on a common use of the Caspian Sea in condominium. As a matter of fact, the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons is going on, controlled by international oil and gas companies. The main technical problem to solve is the lack of transportation opportunities, as the construction of new pipelines from the region so as to access world markets is needed. Russia and Turkey are those most active in this question, followed by Georgia and Iran. The proposed oil pipelines through Russian or Georgian territories are to be terminated at Black Sea ports from where oil should be transported by supertankers, passing thus the Bosporus - Dardanelles Straits and in a case of accident then jeopardising 12 millions of inhabitants of Istanbul. Therefore and also from political reasons Turkey has proposed to build up a pipeline to Turkish Mediterranean oil terminal of Ceyhan. The Turkish position is backed by the USA looking for cutting of the Russian influence in the Caspian Region. Due to technical and political reasons, it seems the most probable that all of the three proposed routes for oil will be constructed in ten years, if the output of oil will be as high as it is expected today. (SOI : MO: S. 307)