Suchergebnisse

Bilateral German–Czech relationshave been developing in a very specific, almost reserved manner, althoughthe two countries are closely linked through EU and NATOmembership. Despite the importance of their mutual cooperation within theEU,some discrepancies do appear in the course of their cooperation. As a consequence,this article identifies,on the one hand,the main disputed issues in German–Czech relations linked both with European policy, particularly with the issues of deepening and widening European integration, the refugee crisis and the Eurozone crisis, and with purely bilateral matters stemming from the context of the negative experiences of World War II. On the other hand,it attempts to answer the following primary research question: "In defined disputed areas of cooperation, is Germany acting as a civilian power toward the Czech Republic?"

The paper analyses goals of the Slovak and German foreign and security policy focused on their role in NATO as well as on the role by forming European security and defence policy. The paper deals with potential and opportunities for more intensive and effective cooperation between Slovakia and Germany regarding their security and defence policy orientation. It finds out that there are some important NATO and EU projects and initiatives, such as "out of area" missions engagement, battle groups building, Framework Nations Concept or a new announced project Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) to be used in the deepening process of Slovak-German security and defence relations.

Middle powers have traditionally played an important role in the international system. Nowadays, the label of middle power possesses relevant political implications and thus theorizing about middle powers is more significant than ever before. However, there is a lack of exact and complex middle power definition in academic as well as in political area. Hence, in the present study, an overview of the development of middle power theorizing from its beginning up to the present was offered in form of a literature review. Subsequently, the main conceptualizations of middle power were compared, the advantages and disadvantages of each particular attitude emphasized and a complex approach toward defining middle power was proposed. The results show that the complex approach towards the conceptualization of middle powers employs the strengths of previous approaches and overcomes their weaknesses. The emphasis on the relative position of a state in the power pyramid is based on the belief that this position, in combination with value orientation and self-image, affects both the state's actions and its ability to create conditions for the functioning of the international system and the ability to influence the basic parameters of the international system.