The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze and compare the economic development of Finland and Sweden with the emphasis of the current economic crisis. The first chapter presents basic characteristics of both economies and their development till 2008. The second chapter shows the development of both economies from the beginning of the crisis until now. The chapter is divided into sub-chapters that analyze individual economic indicators.

The main purpose of this thesis is to examine and compare the development of Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish economy in the last years. Basic macroeconomic indicators are used to compare the economic development of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The thesis is divided into several parts to elaborate on the topic in a more structured way. The first chapter focuses on economic facts about these countries. The second part deals with economic development in new millennium (between 2000-2006). The following chapter compares the development of Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish economy in the economic crisis. The last chapter informs about economic development projection created on the basis of a regression analysis.

Mgr. Naďa Holková: Finnish foreign policy during its membership in European Union, diploma thesis. Faculty of International Affairs, University of Economics, Department of International Studies of Ján Masaryk, supervisor: Ing. Zbyněk Dubský, PhD., level of professional qualification: Engineer (Ing.), Prague, 2012, 78 pp. The thesis analyses Finnish foreign policy during country's membership in European Union, that means since 1995. Its core consists of three main chapters. The first one is devoted to theoretical introduction of foreign policy, the second one presents Finnish foreign policy in Northern Europe and the third one analyses Finnish activities at multilateral level -- within European Union, and the cooperation with United Nations as well as with security organizations (NATO and OSCE). The main methods used in the text are analysis and synthesis. The actual information used in the thesis are from Finnish government sources. Finnish foreign policy is a proof that even a small and neutral state can be active abroad at the high level.

The subject of this diploma thesis is to analyze the system of taxation of alcoholic beverages in the Scandinavian countries. The main aim of this thesis is to compare the taxation of alcoholic beverages in the Nordic countries with taxation in the rest of the European Union. The first part is theoretical and focuses on defining the concepts of tax competition, tax harmonization and coordination. It also includes harmonization of excise duties on alcoholic beverages based on the Directives of the European Union. The second part relates to the consumption of alcoholic beverages and deals with the historical aspect, changes in consumption patterns and the level of consumption in the Nordic countries. The third part deals with the taxation of alcoholic beverages, its development and differences in the Nordic countries compared with other countries of the European Union. In the second and the third part is carried out data analysis through statistical hypothesis testing and calculation of the coefficient of variation. The fourth part contains the evaluation. The thesis is peformed using descriptive, research, analytical and comparative methods and methods of mathematical statistics. The main outcome of this thesis is the finding that in all kinds of examined alcohol except spirits there is a different (for still wine and intermediate products even very different) level of taxation in the Nordic countries and other countries of the European Union.

At the beginning of the Continuation War in 1941, Finnish and German troops commenced a gradual escalation which resulted in swift successive victories against the Soviets. Yet, Finland´s Field Marshal Mannerheim unexpectedly turned his back on military rationality at Leningrad and Murmansk despite his knowledge of how vitally strategic the locations were to the Soviet war effort. Leningrad was encircled by German and Finnish forces and a successful siege was achievable, yet Mannerheim abruptly discontinued the offensive and chose to assume a stale war lasting until 1944. Likewise, Mannerheim withheld his troops from cutting off Murmansk Railway. These events beckon important inquiries regarding Mannerheim´s decision to de-escalate during successful offensives in a total war and presents a conundrum that few have to date examined holistically. As such, this thesis offers an alternative perspective to the current rational explanations of Finnish warfare in the Continuation War. This thesis discusses specific social processes of Finnish society that rationalist explanations overlook and applies the theory of constructivism to identify that normative factors can complement the prevailing rationalist explanations. This thesis further identifies how the social concepts of identity, shared culture and knowledge, and the norms of the Finnish people, and its leadership, contributed to Mannerheim’s decision to disregard military rationality and de-escalate. Lastly, this thesis determines that norms and ideas matter in war studies and future research should incorporate an interpretivist approach which contemplates social constructions and norms as alternative explanations in complex, multi-casual social phenomena like war.

In the seemingly ever growing, diverse, and developing fields of comparative education, specific parts of integrative processes in many countries’ religious education (RE) also appears to develop. Whereas many countries’ religious educations tend to act upon integrative aspirations, many of them take different routes as well. Even so, does the more specific part of “Lived Religion”. This study aims to ask and inquire into some of the comparative questions that might occur while reading about different countries’ different forms of implementation of Lived Religion in their education (e.g. In what different ways does Lived Religion seem to be interpreted, understood, and treated?). This is done by examining and comparing three different examples of Nordic studies (Sweden, Norway, and Finland) that refer to the implementation of Lived Religion in their classrooms, as primary materials. This paper concludes that there is an apparent need of more research in this matter, both nationally and comparatively. Whereas also Lived Religion is both treated and understood differently between the examined prime materials, there are though some fruitful similarities and differences that can be worthwhile drawing. While the Lived Religious aspects might be tough to educate, as with many other integrative matters, it is discussed that there is several benefits ongoingly understanding and comparing Lived Religion as a field of research in the classrooms (when it comes to approaching the aspirating integrative ambitions underlying the chosen countries’ curricula and religious educations). Even though this kind of “Lived” understanding of how Religion and Religiousness works for many people and is compatible with the ambitions the chosen Nordic countries has, there are also some similarities and differences regarding the difficulties implementing these kinds of understandings in the classroom. Both because of curricular and practical reasons.

This study acknowledges how the democratic mission has changed over time and which role it has today. By using a comparative idea analysis, fourteen Swedish and Finish curriculums and syllabuses stretching from 1970 to 2015 has been analysed and compared. Therefore, our purpose is to analyse how the curriculums and syllabuses can be compared to the modern society versus the late modern society, by using ideal types based on theories that legitimates our study. With this method, we were able to compare how much the late modern society has influenced the Swedish and Finnish curriculums and syllabuses. In the result, we concluded that the Finnish curriculums are still influenced by the modern society in a broader way than the Swedish. The Swedish curriculums have been more influenced by the late modern society as a result of the increased focus on the individual, which is a consequent of the development from the modern to the late modern society. The latest Finnish curriculums are also influenced by the late modern society. However, when they write about individuals, the importance of being a part of the community is always the primary goal. The comparison between the countries syllabuses shows a different sight of the subject social studies. In Sweden, it plays a larger role in the mission of creating democratic citizens, as to Finland, where it plays almost the same role as all the other subjects. The final discussion in this study is whether the democratic mission is still functioning in the society we are living in today. The conclusion is that it has to be changed, otherwise it will not legitimize in the late modern society. Furthermore, it has to change from being a firm mission to a more fluid one. Additionally, it has to create an environment where the pupils can become liberate subjects.

Die Geographie kann im Vergleich mit anderen Disziplinen getrost als ein auffallend breit facettenreiches Fach mit zahlreichen Schnittstellen zu Nachbarwissenschaften charakterisiert werden. „Der Geograph“ schlechthin – so er denn angesichts des soeben erwähnten großen Spektrums in Reinform überhaupt existiert – zeichnet sich daher oftmals durch die ausgeprägte Fähigkeit zum interdisziplinären Arbeiten und vernetzten Denken sowie der Fertigkeit des sinnvollen Zusammenfügens vieler Einzelteile zum „großen Ganzen“ aus. Der Blick für’s Ganze und der Blick über den Tellerrand, also das positive Interesse am „Anderen“ und „Neuen“ sind diesbezüglich besonders wichtig. In Kombination mit angewandten – d.h. gesellschaftlich relevanten, konkret nachgefragten Untersuchungen - wird daher bisweilen auch „Geographie im weitesten Sinne“ betrieben. Geographie kennt nur wenige Grenzen, zumindest, wenn sie von Peter Jurczek betrieben wird. Peter Jurczek, dessen 60. Geburtstag der Anlass für Freunde, Weggefährten, ehemalige und aktive Mitarbeiter ist, ihn mit dieser Publikation zu ehren, verkörpert vielleicht nicht den oben genannten Typus des Universalgeographen, der erwähnte Blick für’s Ganze, die Freude am interdisziplinären Arbeiten, das Überschreiten der Grenzen ist ihm aber doch zu eigen. Der Blick über den Tellerrand – in räumlicher und fachlicher Hinsicht – ist es wohl auch, der ihm stets neue Perspektiven und Horizonte eröffnete, an denen er immer auch andere teilhaben lässt. Denn die Überwindung des Trennenden dort, wo es ausgrenzt oder gar diskriminiert ist im Rückblick eine wichtige Maxime seines Handelns: Ob es sich um die innerdeutsche urbane Vernetzung von „Ost“ und „West“ handelt oder die Europäische Integration, die durch konkrete Projekte insbesondere in Hinblick auf Deutschlands Nachbarn in Mitteleuropa vorangetrieben wird. Die Themenvielfalt und Interdisziplinarität der Beiträge dieses Sammelbandes wiederum ist letztendlich ein Beleg des regen wissenschaftlichen Austausches von Peter Jurczek und somit auch ein thematisches wie räumliches Abbild seines Wirkens. Sie reichen von Europa über Afrika bis nach Asien, von der Geographie, der Soziologie, der Politikwissenschaft bis hin zu Germanistik und Kulturwissenschaft.

This thesis deals with integration of foreigners in the CR and Finland. It describes and compares integration processes in both countries. Integration of foreigners is observed from the perspective of state, social workers as individuals and from perspective of organizations. Part of this master thesis is also a survey studying the view of social workers on the process of integration in the Czech Republic.

War is rarely fought on equal terms. On the contrary, before an upcoming war, stronger actors are often predicted to be the winner against the weaker one. History offers several examples that this isn’t always the case, if the weaker actor plays their cards well. Sweden’s military-strategic doctrine (MSD 16) describes the will, in case of being attacked, to win togheter with other actors - or to avoid defeat on it’s own. These descriptions are eerily similair to the German invasion of Norway 1940 and the Winter War 1939 – 1940. Supported by the Allies, Norway didn’t win, which led to a German occupation. Finland, on it’s own, avoided defeat, rendering in a draw against the Soviet Union. The study’s aim is to test Arreguín-Toft’s Strategic Interaction theory. Furthermore, the study aims to shed light on the strategic methods that resultet in success and adversity, in relation to the weak actor’s strategic goals. The results show that the Strategic interaction theory can explain the outcome of the conflicts to a certain degree. Success and adversity are both identified in the cases and serves as empirical basis that, to a certain degree, supports the will of the Swedish military-strategic doctrine.