Suchergebnisse

Představy o "Americe" a znalosti o ní tvoří tematické pole, které se do značné míry dotýká sebepojetí dnešních evropských společností – a tedy i německé a české. Z politického hlediska je to dáno jednak významem USA ve dvacátém století, především jako největší západní vítězné mocnosti ve druhé světové válce, a jednak jejich rolí vedoucí mocnosti západní aliance v konfliktu mezi Východem a Západem. Zde ovlivňovala "Amerika" celé generace jako (demokratický) vzor i jako obraz nepřítele, v některých případech – jako u západoněmecké levice – obojí dohromady: nespoutaný kapitalismus a hnutí za občanská práva šedesátých let zde byly dvě strany téže mince. Přinejmenším stejně významný byl vliv USA v populární kultuře, zejména v oblasti módy, hudby a filmového průmyslu. Zde fascinoval (a stále fascinuje) lidi napříč hranicemi a politickými tábory. "Amerika" tak byla a je jednou z nejsilnějších projekčních ploch evropských společností. Vlastní touhy, naděje, ale i kritika a nejistota se daly výborně zpracovat skrz vnímání, diskuse a reflexe obrazů a poznatků o Americe. V neposlední řadě i vědomí o sobě samém, protože obraz vlastní konstrukce identity se (přinejmenším u části společnosti) zostřoval při pohledu na americké "přátele", resp. "nepřátele" na druhé straně Atlantiku. Geograficky vzdálené Spojené státy byly pro mnoho lidí v Evropě velmi blízké – dokonce i pro ty, kteří tam nikdy nebyli. Téměř každý měl nějakou představu o této zemi, jeho krajině a lidech. Dalším výmluvným svědectvím již z doby před rokem 1900 jsou velké vlny emigrace do zámoří – zejména do USA, které lidem žijícím v Evropě dodávaly silnou imaginační sílu a představovaly naději na snesitelnější život. Vidina útěku před bídou, nedostatkem práce a příležitostí doma byla pro mnohé silnější než strach z nebezpečné plavby do neznáma. Smíšená česko-německá komise pro učebnice dějepisu se proto dva roky po Trumpově zvolení ujala této tematické oblasti obrazů a znalostí o Americe: Ve dnech 15. až 17. listopadu 2018 uspořádala v saském Bad Schandau konferenci k učebnicím na téma "Znalosti o Americe a obrazy Ameriky. Transatlantické vztahy v učebnicích a populární kultuře v Německu a České republice". Konferenční příspěvky předložené v tomto sborníku tak nejen ukazují, jak mocnou projekční plochou USA stále ještě jsou, ale také jasně dokládají, že vedle nebo spíš společně se silným vlivem mimoškolních médií poskytují školní učebnice hlubší vhled do řádu a správy vědění a jeho historicky a sociálně-politicky podmíněných změn.

The paper focuses on the Latin American perspective on modernity, especially on the Peruvian sociologist Anibal Quijano's notion of coloniality. Coloniality is explained as a theoret- ical framework for critical reflection of modernity with an emphasis on the forms of knowledge (episteme) and on non-Western, more specifically Latin American historical experiences and perspectives. The aim is to introduce some Latin American efforts to critically understand coloniality as the other face of modernity and to develop a distinctive critique of capitalism, globalisation and Eurocentrism in their historical dynamics, In the first part, the paper briefly introduces Latin America as a geocultural place and a object of social research in a historical perspective. Special attention is paid to the question of racial classification and authenticity. In the second part, the paper focuses on the notion of coloniality as it was conceptualised by A. Quijano and by other Latin American authors. In the third and fourth parts, the paper deals with the problem of coloniality in wider epistemic contexts of modern social sciences and in relation to the notion of alterity and to the question of decolonisation of social scientific thinking. The final discussion addresses some of inspirational and problematic points of this conception such as problems of decolonisation, intellectual dependency and critique, and the problem of conceptualisation of differences in scientific discourses.

The current article introduces the issue of race and racism in the United States of America with focus on two specific contemporary concepts that have a big attention and have formed the discussion in the last years. The first one is laissez-faire racism from Lawrence D. Bobo who stresses the reluctance of government and political parties to engage in racial questions. The second one is concept of white privilege of Peggy McIntosh who points at advantages and privileges of white race. Both concepts attempt to raise awareness about still present racial discrimination in the United States of America, although in the last years this topic has begun to be perceived as clichet and for some the problem is considered to be solved.

The aim of this study is to analyze the current use of public diplomacy in foreign relations. It attempts to show how necessary public diplomacy strategy is for the formation of diplomatic relations. The first part of the study focuses on the analysis of changes in political communication in international relations. Presented are factors such as the transnationalisation or medialisation of foreign policy and the role of soft power in international relations. Then it presents a three dimensional model of public diplomacy that takes into account short-term and long-term goals. The main part of the text presents a change in the operation of today's foreign policy actors. This mainly concerns classical diplomacy, which has transformed its role, primarily by heavily engaging professional public affairs agencies and non-state actors in foreign policy. The article also cites examples from Europe and the United States of America of successful and unsuccessful strategies of public diplomacy. Adapted from the source document.

After the 9/11 attacks & the subsequent military action in Afghanistan & Iraq, is the transatlantic community headed towards a divorce of Europe & the United States? Or, quite the opposite, are we witnessing a dawn of a new, revitalized, globally active western community? The article focuses on possible evolution of the transatlantic community, & aims at judging various future arrangements of security & defense area against the background of realist approach of international relations. The analysis proceeds in four steps. First of all, the realist theoretical background is laid down, as compared to other possible approaches, including the one of Robert Kagan. Self-interest & the crucial importance of security of an international actor are presented as basic principles. Secondly, the military capabilities of the United States of America & Europe are compared, as the gap between them justifies the concept of strong America & weak Europe. The third part presents four possible scenarios of future transatlantic relations. Since the position of the United States is to be considered constant for foreseeable future, the article closely examines the relationship between NATO & the EU. The structure on which the scenarios are based com-bines two processes: the process of European integration in security & defense, & the evolution of transatlantic cohesion. Military capabilities, effectiveness of political leadership, & a capacity for global action are considered to be the substantial aspects for the evaluation of the balance of power. Finally, the scenarios are compared with the assumptions of the realist theory. The results differ substantially from Kagan's who claims that the strengthening of Europe will result in a closer transatlantic community. The realist approach foresees either a close alliance based on subordination of Europe to the United States in case of substantial external threat, or a strong Europe opposing the power of the United States. Adapted from the source document.

With the outbreak of famine in the mid-1990s, the DPRK has become a recipient of humanitarian assistance. Immediately after the inception of aid flows, an extensive diversification of donors arose. The most important donor duo was the Republic of Korea and the USA. Japan, Russia, and the European Union all had important roles in the matter, and Switzerland had a very specific role in it. Meanwhile, the Chinese assistance obtained an entirely unique position. There was a temporary suspension of China's assistance in the mid-1990s, but then it started again, and today, China is the DPRK's patron. The aim of this article is to provide a comparison of the donors' strategies and to outline the main trends of the assistance to the DPRK in the framework of the period of 1995-2012. The strategies of donorship have divergent tendencies, and in most of the cases, the donors preferred to make a strong effort to reach their political goals in the DPRK while providing humanitarian aid to it. Adapted from the source document.