Tomáš Hach - The Politics of EU Enlargement: Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia Abstract The diploma thesis deals with the topic of the politics of EU enlargement and perspectives of future developments in this area. Its main objectives are to define the politics in theory, to introduce it in the context of the Western Balkans and apply it to the three selected cases - Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia. The work considers the historical development since 1990's as an important factor with a huge influence on current negotiation, and therefore the thesis pays high attention to that. Besides the historical excursion, the thesis deals with topics of political development, introduces the status of current negotiations and the relationship between the European Union and certain countries since the establishment of the first official contact. Through the comparative case study, despite differing positions of states within the framework of negotiations, it is highlighted that all countries share common problems. The method of compliance and non-compliance generates common problems as well as underlines the particular specifics. An important contribution is also the comparison of individual countries based on fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria in the context of current affairs.

Master's Thesis Kristýna Čermáková Abstract This master's thesis explores the topic of the securitization of migration in the Czech Republic and the gender dimension of the discourse on migration. After a theoretical exploration of the migratory process and the specificities of its female face, a discourse analysis of the Czech media will present the main epistemological core of the work. The primary research question attempts to identify the ways in which the Czech media contributes to the shifting perception of migration as belonging to the sphere of politics, even presenting migration as a threat to security. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter provides a theoretical insight into migration studies, the motives to migrate and the phenomenon of forced migration. Despite the general assumption of mainstream academics that migrants are mainly men, the second chapter shows that women's experiences with migration differ greatly from those of men. Based on the Copenhagen stream of thought, the discourse analysis of the Czech media carried out in the third chapter points to the construction of perceptions about migration within Czech society. The absence of gender in the public discourse on migration is further analyzed in the last chapter. The missing gender dimension proved to be...

1 Název práce: Mezinárodní režim ochrany klimatu ve světle závazků vybraných smluvních stran Rámcové úmluvy OSN o změně klimatu Autor práce: PhDr. Ing. Přemysl Štěpánek Školitel: Doc. PhDr. Jan Karlas, M.A., Ph.D. Pracoviště: Univerzita Karlova, Fakulta sociálních věd, Institut politologických studií, Katedra mezinárodních vztahů. Rok obhajoby: 2018 Abstract To complement the current research on countries' action in relation to global public goods, this dissertation examines the strength of UNFCCC Parties' emission commitments and the influence of selected factors derived from rationalism and constructivism on the strength of these commitments in two different contexts, under the Copenhagen Accord (2009) and the Paris Agreement (2015). Using a multiple linear regression analysis on the sample of 27 and 54 cases in the first and the second period, respectively, and as well as through case studies on three important UNFCCC Parties with a strong commitment and variance in values of the independent variables (the European Union, the Russian Federation, South Africa), the conclusions are as follows. The regression analysis in both contexts showed, in line with the assumptions, the positive influence of two factors on the strength of commitments, namely the share of alternative and nuclear energy and economic...

With a tense political landscape with stigmatizing discourse about migrants and so-called migrant ghettos, alongside continuous indications of gender imbalances in public spaces in Copenhagen, a focus on migrant women was chosen. The thesis takes its outset in a photo project conducted in Kringlebakken, an integration house in Copenhagen. Six migrant women participated and were asked to photograph the city through their eyes, meaning taking photos of their everyday lives and places they wanted to show and talk about in the following photo elicitation interviews. With agency and empowerment as key values the women navigated the conversation and shared experiences about their everyday lives. Concepts of intersectionality, the everyday and emotional geographies were applied through a feminist lens, highlighting the role emotions play in shaping our perception of spaces. From an inductive approach two themes were found: 1) green spaces and 2) everyday practices and challenges. The women shared peaceful moments and embodied experiences in nature both with themselves, with their children and their family. The green spaces evoked gratitude, appreciation and peace and had a general restorative effect in their everyday life. Their appreciation mainly stems from previous experiences in their home countries where urban green areas are not as accessible. Furthermore green spaces become a space where the women can get a break from the everyday chores. In contrast, the experiences shared about the everyday spaces and practices included language barriers, discrimination and feelings of exclusion. The added hindrances to urban life brings a level of discomfort in their everyday lives and it is here that Kringlebakken plays an essential role as an inclusive space in the women’s lives. Highlighting these embodied experiences adds nuances to a heterogeneous group that is often depicted as a homogeneous group.

Diploma thesis "EU as an actor of world environmental policy with special focus on agreements concerning climate protection" tries to find answer to the question of the relevance and strength of European Union in the field of world climate protection. The analysis of three important world meetings (Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992, negotiations of COP5 in Kyoto, Japan in, 1997, and Copenhagen Summit in 2009) is the main tool in the search of the answer to the question, what makes EU relevant and strong actor in the world climate policy, whether its position is strong and what makes it an actor. Diploma thesis focuses not only on European powers in international arena, but also on its powers towards its member states. In this area, thesis focuses on EU powers towards its members, how the powers are used during the phase of enforcement and implementation of EU legislative and how successful the EU is in enforcing its will towards its member states in the field of climate protection. The aim of the thesis is to evaluate, to what extend EU can be considered to be an international actor in the field of climate protection policy and find out, if it has powers to influence other actors, negotiations and agreements and whether it can be considered a strong actor.

The master thesis titled Italian Political Discourse and Securitization of Immigration: the Case of the Maghreb revolutions in 2011 deals with the issue of mass immigration waves reaching Italian shores and, in particular, the tiny island of Lampedusa during the initial phase of the so called Arab Spring. Its main goal lies in reconstruction and interpretation of the political discourse led by Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government presenting the immigration crisis as a serious threat to national and potentially to European security. The first part introduces the general theoretical framework. The securitization theory of the Copenhagen School was used as an instrument for the thesis, including major criticism raised by the authors belonging to the social constructivist approach. In the second part, the author tries to characterize the basic historical and political context and clarifies the specifics of immigration in contemporary Italy. The last segment contains structuralized discourse analysis of the 2011 events and explores the extraordinary measures adopted and implemented in reaction to the government rhetoric at both the national and supranational levels. In this respect, the author pays special attention to how the process of negotiations finally led to the revision of the EU...

Social inequality as a threat - Securitization with reference to Šluknovsko events Bc. Nelly Dederová Master's thesis Social inequality as a threat - Securitization with reference to Šluknovsko events deals with construction of so called "problem" of Šluknov region in connection to Šluknovsko events (two physical clashes in towns Nový Bor and Rumburk which happened in August 2011 and following series of protests, demonstrations and rallies which were lingering in Šluknov region towns until 2012), using theory of securitization made by Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde, who are representatives of Copenhagen school of security studies. The fact that participants of political and security discourse were referring to Šluknovsko events using securitization language (marking specific referent object as endangered, proposing exceptional measures and demanding their legitimized adoption) represents author's underlying premise.

The master thesis called Security of the Russian Federation: (de)securitization of the U.S. by Russian representatives deals with the security of Russia from the top representatives points of view. The analyzed time is determined by the presidential term of Dmitry Medvedev (2008 - April 2012). The aim of the thesis is to find out, why the U.S. was (de)securitized during the Medvedev's presidential term and confirm or disprove the predefined hypothesis. President, prime minister and minister of foreign affairs create the foreign politics of Russian federation. Their speeches and interviews are the main source of the data. The basic security terms and the theories (de)securitization are discussed in the first part of the thesis. The Russian point of view of security is defined in the following part. There are analyzed oficial documents focusing on definition of the national security, foreign policy and military field. There are also discussed the Russian media discourse since 90s of the 20 century and Russian- American relations. The last empirical part analyzes the interviews and speeches of the president Medvedev, of the prime minister Putin and of the minister of foreign affairs Lavrov in terms of their attitudes to the U.S.

Dorota T. Moravská ABSTRACT: Diploma thesis "(De)securitization of the 'Jewish question' in Slovakia in the years 1945- 1948" examines how society in the post-war period approached the "Jewish question" from the perspective of the securitization theory. The thesis recognizes domestic and foreign dimension of the process and shows that in the society contradictory tendencies were present at the same time - while in the area of foreign policy people involved exerted pressure on the Slovak political elites to desecuritize the question, in the area of domestic relations the "involved public" took steps in the opposite direction. For this reason, the political elites were forced to face a (de)securitization dilemma. The thesis emphasizes the significance of social and historical context in which the process is anchored and in this light it observes the historical continuity of formation and development of the "Jewish question" in Slovakia, which is set in contrast to a radical change in the social context of the post-war period when the restitution of the Jewish property turned out to be a key factor influencing the course of events. As a result of post-war anti-Jewish moves and acts of violence against Jewish minority the "Jewish question" was politicized became a "necessity and urgency". Therefore the expected...

This study investigated whether EU Progress Reports measured the Copenhagen political criteria in a biased manner compared to independent indices. At stake is the credibility of the EU accession process and whether countries in the Western Balkans will seek partnerships with the EU or state-actors beyond the European peninsula. This is a case study of how well Albania and North Macedonia fared regarding the political criteria during 2014 and 2017. Each country was ranked against one another in order to find potential discrepancies between measurements from Progress Reports and independent indices. This paper did find evidence that suggests the European Commission disfavored North Macedonia and favored Albania. However, other results were inconclusive. The finding supported accession literature that has called into question the objectivity of the EU accession process.