Suchergebnisse

The application of the concepts of polity, politics & policy can serve as a useful tool for the analysis of the EU's regional policy. The aim of the article is to highlight several divergences that were recognized by applying the aforementioned concepts to a single policy. The main framework of the analysis is based on the partnership principle, which is closely linked to all three dimensions (ie, polity, politics, policy) of the regional policy of the EU. References. Adapted from the source document.

The foreign policy of the European Union is usually perceived as being significantly different from the common conception of modern foreign policy of sovereign nation states. In this article we will construct two models of foreign policy & confront them with current EU external relations. Firstly we shall look at the modern foreign policy model based on a neorealist approach. Secondly we shall examine its post-modern alternative that draws its inspiration from the post-structuralism of Jacques Derrida. The comparison is focused on three dimensions: the actor representing the foreign policy; his primary goal; & the key principles invoked in interactions with other actors. We conclude that the EU foreign policy cannot be sufficiently explained by neither of the two models. The large gap between the two models could probably be filled by the third, liberal model of foreign policy. Adapted from the source document.

Contemporarily human rights are ranked among the most crucial foreign policy priorities in many countries. At the same time numerous states are forced to consider the human rights agenda under growing international pressure. The substance of foreign policy in the field of human rights, its intensity & instruments vary in many different aspects. The paper focuses on foreign policy in the field of human rights analysis. Its aim is to comprehend & extend prevailing methods in order to obtain an analytical scheme applicable to almost every country. To fulfill this aim it includes several steps, the most important of which are: examining the essence of analyzing foreign policy in the field of human rights as a specific part of the foreign policy agenda, introduction & elaboration of the so called Mower's apparatus, interpretation of foreign policy in the field of human rights using different levels of analysis & developing methods of its evaluation. In the end the paper summarizes the current state of research & makes some recommendations for the future. Adapted from the source document.

The article aims to introduce the phenomenon of public diplomacy, highlighting the key features of the concept. The author is looking into why public diplomacy is worth of the attention of academics, pointing out the reasons for considering public diplomacy a relevant & legitimate segment of foreign policy -- and not just a trendy phrase. The article presents a brief overview of the development of public diplomacy so far, identifying the main reasons for public diplomacy being an important item on today's foreign policy agenda. Seeking to clarify what public diplomacy is & what its implications are, the author highlights some core features of public diplomacy & their temporal & thematic change. The article also touches upon the relationship between public diplomacy & propaganda, branding, international cultural relations & traditional diplomacy. The author concludes with effective public diplomacy strategies & preconditions for its further development. Adapted from the source document.

As a result of stability in the field of international relations & the absence of acute security threats in many countries & regions of the world (this applies to the EU as well), & as a consequence of the influence of globalization in particular, the importance of the economic dimension of foreign policy is more accentuated at the beginning of the 21st century. Therefore, commercial diplomacy is more important as well, & at the same time, the character of its functions changes, which is the main object of research in this study. In the first part, a brief historical survey of functions of commercial diplomacy, from their very beginnings to their present shape, is drafted. In the second chapter, the term commercial diplomacy is defined, & related terms are described as well. In the third part, the following basic functions of commercial diplomacy (as implemented in contemporary practice) are analyzed: trade promotion & development, investment promotion, economic-information functions, political-legislative functions, development aid assistance & state promotion. The fourth part of this work is focused on the issue of transnational companies (TNCs), whose number rose dramatically in the last few decades, & at present, this subject is considered to be one of the most important factors influencing the character of commercial diplomacy both currently & in the future. The author concludes that commercial diplomacy will be focused particularly on small & medium sized enterprises in the future. At the same time, the complexity of functions of commercial diplomacy will rise, particularly as a result of a diffusion of the economic & political dimensions of foreign policy. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of the article is to otter a theoretically grounded explanation of the long-term continuity of Czech foreign policy. Czech foreign policy displays long-term continuity and consensus at the level of policy, but, at the same time, exhibits deep ideological differences among political and societal elites at the level of politics. The article argues against the mainstream (neo)liberal and (neo)realist theories that explain foreign policy outcomes in pure rationalist and materialist terms. Instead, the text follows the line of the critical constructivist school of International Relations and borrows heavily from post-structuralism. Thus, the article takes into account the ideational background of Czech foreign policy and argues that these deeply seated differences at the level of politics, stemming from mutually contradictory normative, philosophical and political beliefs, are subsequently neutralized by what is called the "hegemonic internationalist discourse". In this context, the article explores the origins, nature and consequences of the power of the hegemonic internationalist discourse. Adapted from the source document.

This article attempts to explain the diverging evolution of foreign & security policy in the EU. It begins by characterizing the CFSP/ESDP at the level of the armed forces, administrative structures, & decision-making bodies in comparison with practical implementation. This survey reveals two modes of interpretation: One based on the realist theory & the other on integration theories of neofunctionalism or institutionalism. The fourth part of this paper expounds upon the finding that neither of these theories are able to fully explain the empirical contradiction, brought forward by the rift between the EU member states in 2003, with regard to the intervention in Iraq, or the parallel dynamic developments within ESDP. The author suggests a possible solution based on the conceptualization of "high" & "low" foreign & security policy, derived from Stanley Hoffmann's original concept. Adapted from the source document.

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.

The article aims to introduce the model of public diplomacy in the conception of small states, highlighting the key features which fulfill the idea of public diplomacy promoted by these small states. The article looks into how these characteristics are reflected in public diplomacy strategies. The author examines which concrete components of these strategies have direct connection to the public diplomacy model of small states, how strongly these differences are evident in plans for strategies & how deeply these differences can influence the final form of the strategies. In its last part the article also touches on the practice of public diplomacy in the Czech Republic through discussions of key documents, tools used in public diplomacy & the development of institutions. The author tries to reach a conclusion as to whether & how deeply the contemporary practice in the Czech Republic corresponds to the public diplomacy model of small states. Adapted from the source document.

The article focuses on the institutional reforms of the European Union's foreign policy from the perspective of input and output legitimacy. It aims at two objectives: to analyse the potential contribution of the establishment of the European External Action Service headed by the Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the legitimacy of the EU's international activity, and to tentatively evaluate to what extent the potential is being fulfilled in practice. It concludes that the new institutions have the potential to raise the output legitimacy of the EU, but only if the member states are considered constitutive actors of the EU and if the institutions manage to keep a high level of input legitimacy. Nevertheless, it is too soon to decide whether this will be possible in practice. Adapted from the source document.

This article explores the question of whether the increasing importance of religion in international relations is also reflected in the role the Roman Catholic Church plays in the formulation of Czech foreign policy. In the first half of the study we will briefly investigate in what ways the role of the Church is described in the key documents of Czech (foreign) policy and how the Church-politics relationship is interpreted in the Czech media discourse. Our attention will be dedicated primarily to the thematic analysis and the actorness of the Church. In the article's second half, we will focus on the way(s) the Church is trying to change the situation of its relation to Czech politics, which is currently unfavourable to it. We will identify three fundamental strategies that can be used by the Church as a reaction to its expulsion from the public sphere and also assess their empirical presence in the Czech milieu. Adapted from the source document.

The paper analyzes the influence of neoconservative concepts of the 1990's on the foreign policy strategy of the George W. Bush administration after 9/11. The text begins with a short presentation of the neoconservative movement, particularly its second generation. The paper then compares neoconservative concepts from the 1990's with principal documents of the Bush administration & shows their influence. The next part of the text presents the factors able to explain this influence. These factors are the specific long-term evolution of central institutions in the USA, the special decision-making process of the administration, the managerial style of president Bush & also the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Adapted from the source document.

Constructivist attempts to focus on analysis of the European identity, including the foreign policy dimension, rely almost exclusively on textual and verbal discourse. But discourse as such is not limited to textual and verbal acts; graphics and visuals, including political caricatures, constitute an integral component of discourse as well. The aim of this contribution is to analyse how the European Union's identity as an actor of international relations could be imagined by studying a sample of political cartoons from The Economist. Based on the analysis, I conclude that although the European Union is not imagined as an antithesis to a standard international actor, The Economist still imagines it as a player that is not entirely equal to other players. Adapted from the source document.