With the end of Cold War Turkey found itself in power vacuum created by the fall of Soviet Union. American-Turkish relations at that time lowered its priority-status and 90s in general are perceived as a "lost decade" for the relations. During that time, traditional secular parties in Turkey experienced a loss on electorate. Therefore space emerged for a new party which will respect (at least partly) democratic rules and at the same time will be based on Muslim traditions. The party was AKP lead by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Almost simultaneously George W. Bush became the President of the United States and both countries started to cooperate closely especially after 9/11 attacks. Although the AKP supports fighting terrorism (Turkey has problems with Kurdish terrorism) and Turkey supported Afghan mission, relations of both countries started deteriorating soon. Turkish stances towards Iraq War, together with bad communication by political elites of both countries lead to colder bilateral relations. Turkish approach towards foreign policy in the region is one of the leading factors for the quality of relations. During the past decade, Turkey tried "zero-problem" policy with its neighbors, which was not always feasible and led to little success. With Barack Obama taking the office the relations started...

The work deals with the geopolitical evaluation of the development in Latin America through local geopolitical production of Spanish-speaking countries. The aim is to draw attention to the missing voice of Latin America in the global arena at the beginning of the 21st century. The thesis focuses firstly on the formulation of examined hypotheses and the definition of the studied area, and clarifies basic concepts and definitions. After the theoretical introduction and familiarization with the key concepts, the thesis moves into the area of Latin America where the thesis introduces the geopolitical development from both theoretical and practical point of view. The thesis aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current geopolitical dynamics of the region. According to the established hypothesis, it aspires to either refute or confirm whether Latin America is able to deal with several internal problems and establish itself in the international system at the beginning of the millennium.

Multilateral trade negotiations within the World Trade Organization have reached a stalemate but there are new trade agreements being currently negotiated, either on bilateral or multinational basis. This thesis deals with two current major trade initiatives, the Trans-Pacific Partnership between the United States and eleven Pacific countries and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership which includes the United States and the European Union. The thesis uses a comparative analysis to assess economic as well as geopolitical implications of the two trade agreements for the United States. The most apparent geopolitical aspect is the effort of the United States to write the rules of trade for the 21st century before China does so. In regards to economic implications, the thesis works with a concept of intra-industry trade and based on it assesses the possible economic effects on the United States economy, especially in regards to productivity and transactional costs on labor market. Both of the agreements have many critics and their future is not clear. This thesis argues that in certain economic and geopolitical aspects, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is more beneficial and strategic for the United States.

The aim of this thesis it to offer a complex overview of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). This international agreement is being negotiated between the United States and the European Union. The main goal of this agreement is to create the largest free trade area to date. I wish to claim that the TTIP does not merely concern trade, but there is a clear geopolitical underlining for it too. When the communist world collapsed, the United States became the sole remaining superpower. Nowadays, the West is facing a different world that fosters new challenges as well as opportunities. The rise of China and Russia puts pressure on the West again. The TTIP seeks to reflect new challenges in world politics. A successful agreement would clearly demonstrate that countries across the Atlantic are still the closest partners. In this thesis I aim to find a causal link between this agreement and the current situation ushering in a shifting balance of power in world politics. I intend to employ two main branches of theories of international relations to verify my hypotheses. The first theory, realism, is equipped to answer questions about power and national interests. The second branch of theories, liberalism, is well applicable so as to indicate different actors and their participation in...

This thesis deals with Japanese foreign and security policy through the optics of critical geopolitics, specifically the "geopolitics as culture" notion developed by Gearóid Ó Tuathail. Using this notion as an analytical framework, the development of Japan's foreign and security policy from the establishment of a modern Japanese state till present days is analyzed, with three main concepts being addressed: (1) foreign policy traditions; (2) geopolitical and geostrategic discourses; (3) and strategic and geopolitical culture. For reasons of narrowing the topic down and applying the concept more consistently, one specific element of Japanese foreign and security policy is at the centre of attention: Japan's "maritime identity". The goal of the thesis is to identify and characterize Japan's geopolitical imagination and attempt to determine if and how has this imagination been expressed in the country's security policy with regard to the maritime identity. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This paper deals with the main geopolitical aspects of India-Bangladesh relation. It covers the process of creation of the Indo-Bangladesh border, problems originating from its constitution including the Cooch Behar enclaves and efforts of the both countries to resolve these problems by the means of bilateral treaties. It also focuses on illegal migration from Bangladesh to India, analyses its causes and its influence on the security in the North-east India and Indian political scene. Disputes concernig the fresh-water sharing, emerging from Indian dams and irrigation canals, either allready built, or planned. The last part deals with possible connection between one of the aspects of the global warming, sea-level rising, and migration. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This study is concerned with the role of contemporary Czech geographic and travel writing and its involvement with the creation and reproduction of spatialised identities and imaginative geographies as they relate to the 'developing world'. It employs the method of discourse analysis (mostly research tools taken from Critical Discourse Analysis) to examine the contents of articles from all issues of the magazines Koktejl and Lidé a Země for the year 2012. This is done in order to analyse the portrayals of such spaces within the context of imaginative geography and the post-development critique and bring attention to the kind of popular geopolitics that is being created. The main topics covered includes the construction of identity between the authors, readers and the objects of writing, the linear understanding of the flow of history and progress and the relationship between the writers and their objects (both places and people). The main findings of the research consist in the identification of the continued prevalence of the perception of linearity of history which constitutes the developing places as subjected to a universal historical process whith the European civilisation as the current endpoint of history. These places are therefore considered a legitimate domain of knowledge, appreciation...

This thesis deals with the functioning of the media in the Czech Republic in the context of global changes after 1991. On the example of this country, it aims to understand how external influence on media within a certain state can be applied. The Czech Republic underwent a radical economic, political, social and cultural transformation with the end of the Cold War. This change was largely based on events in the international system. The main argument for this claim is that the Czech Republic is a small state located in the relatively strategic region of Central Eastern Europe. Given these and other conditions, it is almost impossible for the state to carry out an autonomous sovereign policy from a geopolitical point of view. It is influenced by the central players in the world system and relations between them. By this optics, the thesis also examines the functioning of the media. It tests the hypothesis that, even after the collapse of the Soviet Union and implementation of democratic and neoliberal frameworks, the external influence on the Czech media has not disappeared, only its essence has changed in relation to the wider global context. For this aim we chose primarily two indicators. One is the media legislation that has been adopted in the country since the late 1980s and is increasingly...

The thesis deals with the issue of energy security in geopolitically strategic region of South Caucasus. The focus is on analyzing the development of energy policy in the individual countries of the region since the collapse of the Soviet union. On this basis is determined the most important security challenge: Armenia. This challenge results from the need to counteract the influence of external actors in the region and to address long-standing regional conflicts that would contribute not only to the stability of the South Caucasus, but also help to fully realize the potential of the region as an important transit corridor for Caspian and Iranian energy resources.

The paper clearly shows that Russia has been diversifying its export routes during past 20 years, in order to by-pass third countries and to avoid paying additional transportation fees. The overall Russian export capacities of oil and gas are increasing, but in the same time the export volumes are stagnant. In case of oil transportation, pipelines are progressively substituted by sea transport, which enables Russia to participate on the world market. Situation with gas is different. Despite increasing export capacity Russia nowadays export almost the same amount of gas to the same locations as it did in 1990. It means that if there is any political or economical pressure it is laid against transition countries, which can be substituted, rather than against importing countries. Russian economical gains from export are following increasing oil and gas prices. To make the gains even higher, Russia initiated transition to world gas prices in the CIS countries as well as at the domestic market. To support the hypothesis of this thesis that primary goal of Russia is to increase its economical gains rather than to strengthen its political leverage, it is important to mention that majority of energy disputes of past twenty years were ignited by quarrel over prices and were settled by trade agreement. The...