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 objective of this study is to examine security measures in cities hosting sports mega events. Using International political sociology as a theoretical background, I argue that city spaces undergo what I refer to as dual securitization. I identify four principal characteristics of security measures which have become globally standardized and which I consider illiberal: exceptionalism, surveillance, militarization and urban restrictions. In the case studies, I explore how these measures were justified and employed during the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup in Beijing, South Africa, London and Rio de Janeiro. Despite some differences which are due to local realities, I argue that the approaches of the principal stakeholders in the four cities are very much alike. Regardless of the type of political regime or the degree of socio-economic development, exceptionality of mega events serves as an impetus for wide-scale and profound surveillance and militarization of contemporary cities. In the process, securing public spaces and urbanites comes at the expense of individual liberties.

The submitted thesis called "The Relevance of Azerbaijan and Georgia in New Energy Geopolitics" deals with the topic of perception of energy security from the perspective of the European Union with special emphasis put on two southern Caucasian countries - Azerbaijan and Georgia. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the topic by means of the constructivist approach. The theoretical framework is based on the redefined theory of securitization. The methodological basis is represented by the discursive analysis of the official documents issued by the European Union, embedded in the context of European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership initiative respectively whilst taking into consideration the external influence of the Russian Federation in the time period of approximately ten years, i.e. from 2003, when the European Neighbourhood was established, up to the present. The main objective of the submitted thesis is to assess the perception of energy security from the point of view of the European Union and to identify key contextual links and discursive themes that dominated the political discourse of the European Union in particular moments of the respective period.

Nuclear weapons remains in the security discourse of the United States for over 70 years. The threat of nuclear weapons changed its content several times since then. Our study examines how the nuclear threat was socially constructed and how different actors securitized the threat and to which purpose. Our Diploma thesis uses methodological framework of discourse analysis. We examine the political and social nuclear discourse in the U.S. along two levels of analysis: governmental level and nuclear disarmament level. The diploma thesis researches multiple governmental and societal sources in order to determine how different types of nuclear threat emerged within the discourse.

The thesis analyzes the development of the security discourse in Southeast Asia namely on the ground of the ASEAN organization and in its member states. The thesis main aim is to find out whether the region of the ASEAN can be considered as the Regional Security Complex. The theoretical basis of the thesis is drawn from the theoretical concept of the Copenhagen school, specifically on researchers such as, Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde, who formulated the theory. The theory applicability is studied through the securitization processes elaborated on the sectoral analysis. On the military, political, economic, environmental and societal sector the thesis strives to analyze the essential securitization and desecuritization processes, attempts to name the main securitization actors, referential objects and confront them with the theory. Based on the elaboration on the current issues connected with the securitization logic the thesis describes the security dynamic in the region. At the end of analysis, the thesis evaluates the current regional setting of the ASEAN as the Regional Security Complex and gives the recommendations for its next developments.

This thesis deals with the complex issue of cyber security in international relations, specifics of cyber realm due to its technical nature and particular circumstances of its development as well as with the way how the EU deals with information and communication technologies. Even though cyber security as a category appears with increasing frequency and intensity in the thinking on security and related political debate in the past twenty years, some of its basic tenets are still insufficiently understood. First part of the thesis deals with cyber realm and its specifics as such with effort to pinpoint some of the inherent contradictions between the traditional Westphalian nation states and the fluid character of the digital world. Through analysis of selected relevant incidents as well convincing absence of the "digital- doom" scenarios the peculiar expectation-reality discrepancy will be analysed. The overarching method departs from intersubjective securitization framework. In the last part analysing the EU it is the concept of threat framing that is applied to study and trace the narrative of the EU in these matters. Here a gradual construction of a narrative termed ICT as "fundamental societal building block" reveals itself with cyber related issues making its way into top policy levels through...

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...

The thesis "Nuclear Iran Oversecuritized? The Politics of Benjamin Netanyahu's Speeches" is concerned with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speeches held in front of the UN, American Congress, Jewish lobby in the US AIPAC and foreign audience by several special occasions. It is based on the assumption that language is not only a neutral communication tool, but also a political tool serving the aim of achieving political goals. The aim of the thesis is to identify the linguistic tools of categorization, legitimization and securitization which Netanyahu used in order to persuade the international audience about the imminence and existential character of the threat posed by Iranian nuclear programme, and finally to achieve its elimination or at least tough punishment for Iranian non-compliance. Moreover, the thesis provides the reader with the overall context, namely the effect of Netanyahu's speeches, the nature of Iranian nuclear programme and its consequences for the situation in the Middle East.

Bibliographic record SVÍTEK, Filip. Securitizing Culture: Normative Behavior and the US Central Intelligence Agency in the Global War on Terror. Prague, 2016. 82 p. Diploma work (Mgr.) Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Studies. Department of Security Studies. Diploma work supervisor JUDr. PhDr. Tomáš Karásek, Ph.D. Abstract This monograph attempts to explore the system the intelligence community in the US from a constructivist perspective to understand domestic security policy as applied to international threats. The research questions examine how the US Central Intelligence Agency is able to functionally employ controversial tactics such as coercive interrogations and extrajudicial detention within a society that represents liberal normative democracy - one that in theory should prefer to uphold norms of human rights rather than infringe upon them. There appear to be two main concepts at play: security as an underlying culture (as a product) and security as a subjective act (as a process). Thus, this work will apply concepts of National Security Culture and securitization as product and process, respectively, using interrogations of suspected terrorists as a case example. The underlying results show that norms, rules, and culture of national security, utilized through...

Depuis le début du 21 e siècle, la Thaïlande fait face à une énième période de bouleversements politiques. Le pouvoir politique et économique des élites traditionnelles telles que l’armée, les bureaucrates et le monarque a été progressivement menacé par l’ascension politique de Thaksin Shinawatra et de ses partisans. L’ordre social et politique est déstabilisé en raison de la division idéologique croissante entre les partisans de Thaksin et ceux du roi et de ses alliés, en particulier l’armée. Pour maintenir l’ordre et le statu quo, entre 2000 et 2020, deux coups d’État militaires et un coup d’État judiciaire, ainsi que des élections frauduleuses ont eu lieu, entraînant l’affaiblissement du régime démocratique dans le pays. Ces évènements mettent en évidence la nature semi-autoritaire de la politique thaïlandaise contemporaine. Ce mémoire démontre que la consolidation autoritaire peut se produire en période d’instabilité sociale et politique. Puisque les pandémies peuvent agir comme vecteur d’instabilité au sein des États, ce mémoire étudie les impacts potentiels de leur sécuritisation sur la consolidation autoritaire en Thaïlande. Ainsi, nous explorons la contradiction potentielle entre la sécurisation des pandémies, caractérisée par la mise en œuvre de mesures d’urgence au nom du bien commun, et la consolidation du pouvoir des politiciens au sein d’un régime politique semi-autoritaire, marquée par une réduction des droits et libertés civiles. En s’appuyant sur les cas des pandémies H5N1, H1N1 et COVID-19, inscrites dans le début du 21 e siècle de l’Asie du Sud-Est, ce mémoire évalue la contribution de la théorie de la sécurisation à la littérature des régimes hybrides pour expliquer les dynamiques politiques liées à la résilience semi-autoritaire en Thaïlande et potentiellement dans d’autres États de la région. / Since the beginning of the 21 st century, Thailand has been facing another period of political upheaval. The political and economic power of the traditional elites made of the military, bureaucrats and the monarch has been incrementally threatened by the political ascension of Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters. The social and political order is destabilized due to the growing ideological division between the supporters of Thaksin and those of the King and his allies, particularly the army. To maintain the order and the status quo, between 2000 and 2020, two military and one judiciary coup, as well as fraudulent elections have occurred, resulting in the weakening of democratic rule in the country. These events highlight the semi-authoritarian nature of contemporary Thai politics. This thesis demonstrates that authoritarian consolidation can occur at times of social and political instability. Because pandemics can act as a vector of instability within states, this thesis examines the potential impacts of pandemic securitization on authoritarian consolidation in Thailand. Hence, we explore the potential contradiction between pandemic securitization, characterized by the implementation of emergency measures in the name of the common good, and the consolidation of politicians’ power within a semi-authoritarian political regime, marked by a reduction in civil rights and freedoms. Drawing on the cases of H5N1, H1N1, and the COVID-19, three pandemics of the early 21st century of Southeast Asia, this thesis assesses the contribution of securitization theory to the hybrid regimes literature in explaining political dynamics related to semi-authoritarian resilience in Thailand and potentially in other states of the region.