Master's Thesis Current trade policy directions of Colombia is engaged in development of integration policies and its impact on the national economy and foreign trade. Emphasis is put on Free Trade Agreement Colombia -- USA, mutual trade and its evolution. United States is Colombia's most important trading partner, but their role is declining. First chapter summarizes the economic development and competitive advantages in key sectors of the economy. The largest part of the chapter is devoted to the mining industry as it forms the most substantial item of Colombian exports. The method of second chapter is analysis and comparison of integration activities undertaken by Colombia to the U.S. and other world regions (EU and Latin America). Practical part detects opinion of the Colombian business community on the Free Trade Agreement with the USA and possible deeper integration.

No other region in the world has been more intervened by the United States than Latin America. An increasing interdependence between both in terms of trade, security and energy has grown along with a new reality. New political currents in Latin America have favored to recover the sovereignty and self-determination of their countries, while gaining independence from the United States preferences and mandates. The aim of this paper is to analyze the historical approach of the U.S. foreign policy to Latin America since 1945 as well as the implementation of them, with the purpose of evaluate the current scenario. A rhetoric vs reality approach is conducted showing the need for a more coherent U.S. foreign policy both in the economic and the security agenda.

This diploma thesis provides a complex analysis of illicit drug trade in Latin America and Colombia and it describes its causes and trends. It also focuses on evaluation of anti narcotics strategies applied in Colombia. The first part of the thesis describes the illicit drug market and its global character and it concentrates on cocaine market in Latin America. The second part is devoted to Colombia and the historical development of illicit drug trade in said country. It contains analysis of several actors dominating the illicit drug market and of their roles and positions. It also describes anti narcotics policies in Colombia. The last section is an analysis of results and impacts of the policies applied in Colombia. It provides an overview of the current situation in Colombia and possible scenarios of future development of illicit drug trade.

This diploma thesis aims to analyse the current state of the Chilean business environment and highlight the benefits, opportunities as well as possible threats of the Chilean market for Czech exporters. The work is divided into four chapters. The initial definition of the business environment and the determination of used methods is followed by the actual analysis of the business environment. PESTLE analysis is used to explore the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environmental and legal environment of the country. The outputs are processed using SWOT analysis. The third chapter focuses on the relationship of the Czech Republic and Chile, and the fourth part contains three case studies designed to identify specific sectors that are promising for Czech exporters.

This thesis deals with a specific company AUSTROMAR obchodní a dopravní spol. s.r.o. operating in the maritime transport market in the Czech Republic, Austria, the Slovak Republic and Hungary. The first half of the theoretical part is devoted to maritime transport in general, its development in recent years and the importance for Europe and the world. The second half explains the main terms used in maritime transport relevant to the thesis and describes the roles of the various entities operating in this market. The practical part determines whether it is rentable if the company expands its portfolio of offered services by opening a direct regular service of consolidated cargo to Mexico. At the bottom of the text the further opportunities and threats for Austromar are evaluated.

Main objective of the thesis is to evaluate trade and political relations between the Czech Republic and selected countries in Latin America (selected countries will be those with strongest ties to the Czech Republic). Hypothesis: Trade and political relations between Czech Republic and Latin American Countries are well developing in the course of the time. Latin-American region provides a great potential for future cooperation. Emphasis will be targeted on the assessment of business conditions (including bilateral agreements on mutual trade), further on the most important export commodities and investment opportunities. At the same time, the work will attempt to estimate the level of potential of Latin American territory and further direction of mutual relationships. The research will contain a questionnaire for Czech entrepreneurs operating in Latin America and a thorough analysis of mutual trade will be given. Unfortunately, this subject is not documented with a large number of printed books, therefore, the key source of information will be databases and statistical information published by state institutions (Chamber of Deputies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Trade, etc.). Bibliography: [1] AGUIAR DE MEDEIROS, C. (2011): The Political Economy of Institutional Change and Economic Development in Latin American Economies. Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. XLV, No. 2 (June 2011), DOI: 10.2753/JEI0021-3624450205, pg. 289 - 299 [2] Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic: Report on Relationships between the Czech Republic and Latin American Countries and the Role of the Chamber of Deputies in this Process (2010). [3] CHRISTIAN, S. (1997): Latin American Trade Relations. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 39, No. 1, Special Issue: US-Latin American Relations (Spring, 1997), pp. 71 - 83 [4] GÓMEZ-MERA, L. -- BARRETT, B. (2012): The Political Economic of Preferential Trade Agreements: Latin America and Beyond. DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-2456.2012.00147.x. Available at: http://miami.academia.edu/LauraGomezmera/Papers/35945 /The_Political_Economy_of_Preferential_Trade_Agreements_Latin_America_and_Beyond [5] GRINBERG, N. (2010): Where Is Latin American Going? FTAA or "Twenty-first-Century Socialism"?. Latin American Perspective 2010. DOI: 10.1177/0094582X09351713, pg. 185 - 202 [6] SHADLEN, K.C. (2006): Latin American Trade and Development in the New International Economy. Latin American Research Review, Vol. 41, No.3 (2006), pg. 210 - 267

The aim of this thesis is to answer the question of whether the bank nexus is one of the transmission channel of the latest financial crisis to developing countries. The global financial crisis of 2007-2009 affected the whole world, but they are countries that have been less affected than others, or vice versa they were able to respond to the crisis with better instruments of monetary and fiscal policy, such as the countries of Latin America, which had during the last crisis greater credibility than it was usual in other financial shocks before. First, the thesis illustrates the financial crisis, then the possible transmission channels. In the analytical part I will focus my attention primarily on the canal of bank bonds, which I'll explore using regression analysis to confirm or refuse whether these bank nexus influence strongly on the spread of the financial crisis in Latin America. Last but not least, I will summarize evidence of analysis and also government policy in these countries, which caused rapid economic recovery after the crisis.

This thesis concerns the role of constitutional courts in maintaining stability in the country. The thesis first of all introduces the connection between the concepts of stability, security and democracy. With the help of the general theory of disputes and conflicts formed by Shonholtz and the definition of the various roles that courts can play with respect to a political system, this thesis attempts to outline how courts can contribute to security and stability in the country or how they, on the contrary, can disrupt it. In the practical part, the thesis focuses on the region of Latin America. Using the examples from selected countries (Bolivia, Venezuela and Argentina), this work tries to demonstrate the effect of decisions of constitutional courts on stability and security. Crucial in the assessment of their stabilization role is if the courts are able to evoke civic trust in a democratic system and if they have the ability to protect the system effectively. The role of courts in selected cases is assessed using the functional analysis.

Denna uppsats analyserar Henning Bergers författarskap åren 1901-1911, utifrån en nyläsning av verken Där ute, Ridå, Ysaïl, Drömmen om helvetet samt Drömlandstrilogin (Drömlandet, Bendel & Co och Fata Morgana). Utifrån ett dekadens- och modernitetsperspektiv reviderar jag den traderade uppfattningen om författarskapet som ytligt, och visar att Berger gör en betydande skildring av moderniteten, med större komplexitet än man tidigare uppmärksammat. Jag belyser jag konturerna av ett underliggande idékomplex, som särskiljer honom från samtidens svenska författare men ställer honom med förbund till stora, internationella modernitetsskildrare. I och med åren som utvandrare i Chicago, är han i vissa avseenden före sin tid när han debuterar i Sverige. Amerika blir i hans skildringar en representation för en längre gången utveckling än man erfarit i Stockholm vid samma tid; jag tar hjälp av Anna Jörngårdens begrepp tidströskel för att konceptualisera tidsandan, med dess skiljelinje mellan framtid och förflutet.       Jag förhåller mig till den övergripande frågeställningen om vilken attityd till det moderna som kan utläsas i verken, samt vad de uttrycker om moderniseringens innebörd för människan. Den kluvenhet som genomsyrar Bergers verk fungerar som ett sammanhållande tema i min analys. En av uppsatsens huvudfrågor är hur denna kluvenhet skall förstås och förklaras, i ljuset av hans starka skildringar av såväl positiva som negativa sidor av moderniseringen. Bergers verk visar upp moderniteten i all sin glans, men utan att skönmåla. Asfaltsromantik, nuets underverk, tyglandet av naturkrafterna, möjligheterna och berusningen, ställs sida vid sida med dess destruktiva konsekvenser: skördandet av offer, skövlingen av allt gammalt, mänsklig nedbrytning och skärande orättvisor. Jag drar slutsatsen att hans skildring ytterst är bejakande gentemot utvecklingen. Acceptans och determinism framträder som förklarande nyckelbegrepp. Intertextualitet mellan min studie och Marshall Bermans Fauststudie bidrar till att synliggöra den faustiska kärnan hos Berger; utvecklingens destruktivitet betraktas som ett nödvändigt och oundvikligt ont. Jag har därmed kunnat påvisa konturerna av en existentiell analys, som tidigare forskning inte uppmärksammat. Börsmotivet framträder där som ett centralt motiv.      En annan slutsats av min genomgång är att författarskapet förhåller sig avvisande till det svenska sekelslutets pessimistiska tankestrukturer. Det svenska och amerikanska behandlas som antiteser; den svenska mentaliteten framstår som ett nedtyngande arv. I arvet ingår dock även ett romantiskt drömmartemperament, vars status är mer tvetydig. Stilistiskt används t.ex. en naturromantiskt vokabulär på unikt moderna företeelser. Även om framställningssättet framhäver de romantiska aspekterna av det moderna, kategoriserar den yttre handlingen ett romantiskt sinnelag som icke gångbart i den amerikanska moderniteten. Arvet blir ett hinder för den som vill ansluta sig till den nya tiden – tidströskeln kräver en själslig transformation, ett definitivt brott med arv och bakgrund, och med alla egenskaper som tillhör det förflutna.

The worsening humanitarian situation in Venezuela, rising migration flows and political crisis escalating in the beginning of 2019 was reflected in the increased attention to human rights issues in Venezuela. The aim of this thesis is to outline through discourse analysis the discourse of top UN officials on human rights situation in Venezuela. The introductory part of this thesis clarifies the theoretical and methodological background for the analysis and introduces the topic of human rights in the context of social constructivism and the UN human rights system. The second part of the thesis includes the discourse analysis, which focuses on the character of the discourse of top UN officials on the human rights situation in Venezuela and the development of this discourse between 2017 and 2019, as well as differences among the discourses of the UN Secretary General António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and her predecessor, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. The discourse analysis is based on James Paul Gee's method, consisting of seven building tasks of language. These building tasks include significance, practices, identities, relationships, politics, connections and sign systems and knowledge. The primary materials for the analysis consist of three OHCHR reports from 2017-...