This study is titled Role of Small States in International Relations: Comparative Analysis of the Czech Republic and Israel and its main purpose is to analyze a typical small state's behavior in the international arena on the examples of the Czech and Israeli foreign policy. It is divided into four respective sections -- a theoretical framework, historical background, and the two case studies, and it strives to answer a foundational question whether the Czech Republic and Israel can be considered small players in international relations based on the theoretical definition of the notion of a small state as well as the countries' current foreign policy approaches and tools.

L’adhésion à l’OTAN façonne-t-elle l’imaginaire sécuritaire ? À travers l’analyse des discours des locuteurs autorisés australiens et français sur le thème de la guerre en Afghanistan (2001-2012), ce mémoire vise à comparer les imaginaires sécuritaires de ces deux États au regard de leur relation avec l’OTAN. Lorsque ces éléments constitutifs sont mis bout à bout, avec le récit entourant le cadre d’opération (chapitre 1), celui de la représentation de l’ennemi (chapitre 2) ainsi que celui de la la désignation de la menace (chapitre 3), l’ensemble que l’on appelle l’imaginaire sécuritaire permet de mieux comprendre les décisions qui sont prises en matière de politique étrangère. La comparaison de l’imaginaire sécuritaire entre la France, qui est pourtant membre de l’organisation transatlantique, et l’Australie, qui n’en est pas membre, indique que l’Australie partage un imaginaire sécuritaire proche de la France laissant apparaître que l’OTAN n’a pas d’impact et qu’il faut chercher dans un ensemble plus large la réponse. L’analyse suggère que les deux gouvernements (re)produisent un discours dans lequel ils cherchent à accroitre l’espace discursif entre un « eux » barbare et un « nous » magnifié. / Does NATO membership shape the security imaginary? Through a discourse analysis of Australian and French authorized speakers on the subject of the war in Afghanistan (2001-2012) this dissertation compares the security imaginary of these two states in terms of their relationship with NATO. Accounting for the narrative surrounding the operating framework (Chapter 1), the representation of the enemy (Chapter 2) as well as the designation of the threat (Chapter 3), security imaginary allows a better understanding of foreign policy decisions. Comparing France’s security imaginary, which is a NATO member, with Australia’s, which is not, reveals that Australia shares a security imaginary similar to France’s. Thus, NATO membership does not seem to have an impact on security imaginary. The analysis suggests that both governments (re)produce a discourse in which they seek to increase the discursive space between a barbaric "them" and a magnified "us".

The goal of this thesis is to examine president Bush's policy after 9/11 and its implications for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The shock of 9/11 attacks resulted in "war mentality" manifesting itself in the pressure of the public and media for swift radical actions. This resulted in ad hoc decisions taken without proper analyses and consideration of consequences. After 9/11, Bush Administration used black-and-white rhetoric and simplified the war on terror into war between good and evil. The U.S. under Bush did not consider international institutions to play significant role in international politics and preferred bilateral cooperation. By omitting the Alliance, Washing, however, undermined NATO. Europe was sympathetic to the U.S. and proclaimed its support for Washington since day one but European NATO members and the U.S. had different threat perception regarding Iraq, and could not agree on a common solution. The actions taken by Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq and the reluctance of European allies in supporting the U.S. war against terrorism resulted in escalation of relations in the Alliance. As the U.S. headed toward engagement in two conflicts, it increasingly appreciated the value of NATO. On the other hand, Europe never forgot that the United States is its main ally. Most...

This diploma thesis will basically work with the concept of security, namely, the European secu- rity in recent years. Although Ukraine is not a NATO member, and Russia is NATO's distant neighbour, in this thesis I will prove that we should connect the events on Ukrainian border with European security. From the very onset of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, NATO was firm in its support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. The Allies immediately condemned the illegal "legitimate annexation" of the Crimea to Russia in March 2014 and they have repeatedly stated that they would never recognize it as well. They also condemned deliberate destabilization in eastern Ukraine which was provoked by Russia with the use of its military intervention and militants' support. The crisis in Ukraine has proved to be a real turning point in Euro-Atlantic security since some senior Western politicians began to speak about changes in the guideline of European defense policy. Ukrainian crisis created new security situation in Europe and still requires attention, in- volvement and response from NATO. This crisis sharpened strategic misunderstanding between Russia and the West. It shows very clearly that Moscow and the West understand European security in...

Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till främjad politisk medvetenhet genom en analys av hur Socialdemokraterna och Moderaterna förhåller sig till sina respektive ideologier. Uppsatsen fokuserar på hur partierna i sina partimanifest redogör för Sveriges utrikespolitiska roll, samt om de utvalda partierna bibehåller sin ideologi eller om de frångår denna vid utrikespolitiska frågor. Metoden som används är Göran Bergströms och Kristina Boréus definition av ideologianalys. Analysen tillämpas genom ett analysverktyg utvecklat av Jan Hylén för att analysera förhållandet mellan ideologi och partimanifest utifrån definitioner av teorierna socialism och liberalkonservatism. Resultatet av studien visar att Moderaterna varierar i ideologiska utgångspunkter medan Socialdemokraterna behåller sin ideologi i partimanifesten utifrån den valda tidsperioden. Genom analysen framställs orsaker till att Moderaterna varit ett konservativt parti som senare kommit att bli mer och mer liberalt. Slutligen följer en ämnesdidaktisk implikation där studiens syfte ställs inför undervisning i samhällskunskapsämnet på gymnasieskolan.

The present Master Thesis is a macro-level comparative case study that addresses the problem of most member states' lack of adequate motivation to acquire innovative military capabilities and contribute them to the North Atlantic Alliance. There has been a significant gap between NATO's ambition and its military capability since at least the 1999 Kosovo Crisis. Even today, a couple of years after the adoption of the longawaited new Strategic Concept, which confirmed NATO's role in crisis management beyond its borders, the evaluations of the recent NATO operation in Libya hint to fact that the gap persists. The question is: what factors play the most significant role in shaping state behaviour within NATO and what can be done to stimulate the member states' proactive attitude? The problem is addressed through the prism of Neorealism, which emphasizes structural constraints of state behaviour, and Constructivism, which, for its part, highlights the importance of domestic factors, namely state identity. Based on the results of the fuzzy-set analysis, it is argued that the harmonization of NATO's and EU's capability development initiatives, as well as the eventual military integration of lower-capability NATO member states is most likely to reset the balance between the Alliance's ambition and available...

The aim of the dissertation is to explain the military-political reasons behind the long-term attempt of the Soviet Union to deploy its units on Czechoslovak territory, as well as the root cause of the military operation against Czechoslovakia which was carried out by the five member armies of the Warsaw Pact. One of the main reasons for this was the military and strategic situation in Central Europe in the 1960's, and also the issue of nuclear weapons and their carriers. A separate chapter is dedicated to Soviet attempts to deploy its units on Czechoslovak territory prior to Operation Danube. The final chapter deals with the reorganization of the CPA, the establishment of the CGV and the NATO reaction to the change in the strenght of armed forces present on the border of the two Blocs.

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The master's thesis focuses on the potential of two recently launched initiatives, The Permanent Structured Cooperation and The European Intervention Initiative, to serve as preludes of the single European army. Both initiatives shared high expectations as vehicles for a relaunch of integration in defence domain in Europe, but do they really move the efforts in this respect forward? To study the two projects, we establish a unique theoretical measurement of defence and security integration, based on the realist concept of the alliance and constructivist concept of the security community. We then ask what constructivist theoretical model for the study of defence integration fits The Permanent Structured Cooperation best, and analogically, which archetype is the most suitable for The European Intervention Initiative. Based on the theoretical underpinnings, we carry out an empirical analysis of both initiatives to find out what novelties they bring to the area of defence. We focused mainly on their governance, institutional fabric and funding. Special attention was paid to varying level of pooled sovereignty. The thesis is built on the content analysis of primary sources and where appropriate on relevant secondary literature.

The aim of this research is to analyse the development of an EU grand strategy, using the two dominant EU powers Germany and France and their respective approach to an EU grand strategy. The importance of the EU grand strategy cannot be underestimated as it concerns the national security of all citizens in the EU. Research in this area which contributes with more findings addressing new information must be seen as urgent and relevant. While other studies have researched the development of the EU grand strategy, the recent international structural events in the form of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian War have not yet been studied. The concepts that will be used are strategic culture and strategic autonomy, with the purpose to provide insights on Germany’s and France’s approach to an EU grand strategy. Strategic culture and strategic autonomy will use theoretical assumptions based on constructivism and structural realism respectively. The findings are that Germany is still a major proponent of a transatlantic EU grand strategy, while France remains supportive of a Europeanist EU grand strategy. Recent events with the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian War have led to that Germany have decided to abandon its energy dependency towards Russia and significantly increase its military spend to the by NATO stipulated two percent of GDP. These events will affect the development of the EU grand strategy, but the current signs are that Germany and France will not change their approach on the EU grand strategy because of this.