Diploma thesis "Language policies of Canada: An Evaluation of Trudeau's Policy of Official Bilingualism" deals with Canadian English-French language duality. The thesis describes evolution of Canadian language policies on federal as well as on provincial level. On federal level, long-time prime minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau has achieved a goal to create fully bilingual federal government; on provincial level, the thesis deals mainly with the province of Québec as it has the most far reaching language legislation in Canada. The thesis evaluates Trudeau's aim to deal with Québec separatism and nationalism by stressing out new pan-Canadian identity of bilingual state reaching "from coast to coast".

The thesis titled "Special Canadian-Cuban Relations under Prime Minister Diefenbaker" examines the roots of the Canadian Cuban Relations set during the reign of Prime Minister Diefenbaker. Whilst Canada's role is usually minimized during the events of the Cuban Revolution as well as the Cuban Missile Crisis, Canada will be discussed as one of the major players in the present thesis. The relationship of the two countries will be discussed mainly through the concepts of "other diplomacies" as the means of Canadian soft power diplomacy and Canadian "othering" of the United States as a part of Canadian nationalism. Both concepts will be introduced in the theoretical framework. The thesis is based on the assumption of Cuba's importance for Canada's national independence. Therefore greater focus will be payed to Canadian nationalist policies of Prime Minister Diefenbaker. The aim of the thesis is thus to discuss whether Canadian nationalism was the main factor influencing Canada's policy towards Cuba during the set time period. We will examine whether the means used by Canada towards Cuba during the late 1959 and early 1960s period can be linked to Canada's need to be seen as an independent country. Thanks to this approach we will be able to assess whether Cuba can be seen as a means of Canadian...

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The Master thesis The Reform of Canada's Asylum System deals with the refugee issue in Canada. Canada's asylum system has been the subject of controversy almost since its inception in the 1970s. The asylum system has been crippled by a cumbersome inland refugee determination process which resulted in a huge backlog of unresolved asylum claims. Even though various governments have tried to reform the dysfunctional system, newly implemented measures only have led to even bigger backlog and longer delays, which encourage people who are not in need of protection to make an asylum claim knowing they will be able to skip the regular but lengthy immigration process and have immediate access to a range of generous social benefits. The thesis analyzes the problems of the existing asylum system which are seen in a general access to the refugee determination process, in its expensiveness, in the inefficiency of the immigration authorities, and in long delays allowing the asylum seekers to live and work in Canada for many years. Analyzing the expected outcomes of the new reform, the thesis assesses whether the new proposal of Canadian refugee and asylum policy will be finally successful in resolving the problems that are crippling Canada's asylum system or whether it will be rather classified just as another...

UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE Filosofická fakulta Ústav politologie Diplomová práce Bc. Jakub Hodboď MSc. Politické dimenze československého exilu v Kanadě 1948 - 1989 Political Dimensions of the Czechoslovak Exile in Canada 1948 -1989 Praha 2011 vedoucí práce: Doc. PhDr. Jiří Kocian, CSc SUMMARY This study narrowly analyzed political and cultural-political dimension of the Czechoslovak exile in Canada during the selected period 1948-1989. Besides the introduction of the official political reactions and the evolution of political agendas, the cultural, educational and sports activities were examined, as they contributed to and supported other directly political events of the exile. The "other side" was presented too through the introduction of the strategies and tactics of the Czechoslovak communist regime used against the exile community in Canada. Well-established Czechoslovak compatriots managed to react effectively to the changes in Czechoslovakia after 1948. Complex issues such as the assistance and support of the refugees and new immigrants were solved in the cooperation with other global Czechoslovak exile organizations. Main role among the organizations in Canada belonged to the Czechoslovak National Association in Canada, Masaryk Memorial Institute and to the gymnastic organization Sokol. Highly...

The text deals with the issue of changes in immigration and integration policies of the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia during last twenty years. At first, it summarizes the theoretical opinions on immigration, integration, multiculturalism and pluralism and makes that so from the point of view of liberalism and communitarianism. Then it focuses on the development of immigration and integration policies in each country in given time period and especially on their qualitative change. Attention is paid to their key principles, legal basis and real practice. Finally, these three approaches are mutually compared and there are outlined their future perspectives.

The diploma thesis "Influence of international energy security on shale gas mining in euro-atlantic area" deals with the possibility of developing commercial shale gas mining operations in Europe. Due to increase of gas consumption in Europe and without Europe's own sufficient production, its dependence on gas imports is growing, especially on the imports from Russian Federation. Although thanks to the development of LNG natural gas could become a global commodity in the future, the natural gas markets still maintain a regional character for the moment. This situation could be used for political objectives by some actors, such as Russia's temporary suspension of gas imports to Europe in 2006 and 2009. As a reaction to development of commercial unconventional shale gas production in USA, some of the EU members turned their attention to their own shale gas deposits in order to bolster their energy security. The stance of the individual countries differs however, with some of the countries imposing research moratoria (France, Bulgaria, Czech Republic), while some other countries expressing significant interest in the research of possible production on their territory (United Kingdom, Poland). The thesis is primarily concerned with analysis of the relation between development of international relations...

Seen as a valuable shortcut from Europe to Asia, the Northwest Passage could become an important shipping route, and Canada wants to be able to control it. However, the current Conservative Party government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper has led an aggressive, complex neorealist approach to securing sovereignty over the Passage consisting of loud diplomacy, military drills, and rejection of multilateral cooperation in the region. But this strategy that perceives Canada as a principle power is not sustainable. The government must accept that Canada simply cannot afford to unilaterally control and develop the Northwest Passage, and a liberal internationalist approach is what is needed. Rather than continuing to fight for international acknowledgment that the Passage is a domestic strait, Canada needs to recognize that the strait can be managed and developed much more effectively if it oversaw a multilateral development effort through the International Maritime Organization. This thesis will consist of five chapters: 1. The history of Canada and the Northwest Passage, 2. The benefits of a more accessible Arctic, 3. Challenges to developing a more open Arctic, 4. Three theoretical perspectives of Canadian foreign policy, 5. Returning to multilateralism: and effective Northwest Passage policy. Powered by...

The diploma thesis focuses on the period of the superpower rivalry of the Cold War, respectively, on the 1960's, and an interesting phenomenon of the intermediary role. At that time, Canada and Czechoslovakia took on tasks far beyond the importance of their bilateral relations with Cuba. They often made significant efforts and spent considerable resources. Furthermore, the work compares the nature of mediation of relations between Cuba and the great powers on the examples of these countries and tries to reveal their connections. More precisely, the work is interested in deciphering the motivations of Canada and Czechoslovakia for the initiative of the role of mediator between Cuba and the individual blocs. These states played this role in the relationship between Cuba and the Western countries in the case of Canada and Cuba and the Eastern bloc in the case of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The Kenneth Waltz's theoretical approach of bipolar equilibrium will be used and analyzed as one of the possible explanations. From a methodological point of view, the work uses the Mill's method of difference and comparative history. The work has also the ambition to contribute to an interesting topic that unjustly escapes the wider awareness of the general public. The main sources of data are secondary...

Zugl.: Giessen, Univ., Diss., 2008