The thesis proposes the analytical review on how the Baltic States, namely, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia perceive Russia as a threat to their national security by addressing and evaluating the main changes in their security policies. To analyze the changes and differences in their perception, the securitization theory is applied. Following the most recent changes in the security environment in Europe, starting from the Ukraine crisis and annexation of Crimea in 2014, supplementary theoretic concept such as security dilemma is used for better understanding of the challenges that the Baltic States/NATO - Russia relations face. The main goal of this thesis is to provide a detailed overview of how Russian interference in Ukraine's domestic affairs, created a sense of anxiety in the Eastern Europe and affected security sectors of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Keywords: the Baltic States, Russia, Ukraine Crisis, Securitization theory, Security Dilemma, NATO

A liberal understanding of international politics is currently dominant. However, it is important to note that there are still states that have not adopted this understanding, yet, which brings complications here. The current clash of these two understandings, i.e. liberalism and realism, thus constantly forms the security environment. Probably the most obvious case of the present seems to be the case of Ukraine and the related Ukraine crisis. The aim of this diploma thesis is to give a picture of the causes of the Ukraine crisis in a broader context than is generally interpreted across individual media, using an offensive-realistic framework. The motives of the individual actors of the conflict, especially Russia, will be examined in an attempt to present those motives as not primarily offensive but to some extent as defensive. Several research questions will serve me to fulfil the above-mentioned goal - How can the main causes of the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine be explained from the perspective of offensive realism? According to offensive realism, what actor is responsible for the outbreak of conflict? In terms of offensive realism, how can the motives of the key actors (i.e. Russia, the West) be explained?

This paper examines the broader relationship between the United States and Russia since the end of the Cold War. In recent years, relations between the U.S. and Russia have seriously deteriorated. This thesis lists the four most important contributing factors: ineffective reforms of the 1990s, NATO’s continued expansion, escalation in Ukraine, and the failure to jointly address the Syrian conflict. It argues that one major consequence of the strained relationship is a stronger Russia-China partnership. If Washington continues to ignore Russia’s security and economic interests, relations are likely to further decline, harming U.S. objectives in the long term. In order to improve relations, this thesis recommends that the U.S. transform its existing NATO policy, reverse sanctions, and reorient U.S. foreign policy to focus less on Russia’s non-democratic system of government and more on geopolitical issues, such as coordinating measures with Moscow to stabilize Syria.

Since spring 2014, an armed conflict has been taking place in the eastern part of Ukraine between the Pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian state. As a result of this armed conflict, there was a stream of forced migration. The statistics speak up to about 1.7 million people internally displaced and about a hundred other hundreds of people seeking international protection abroad. Of those seeking international protection, more than 200,000 have been granted temporary asylum in Russia. This thesis examines the impact of the Ukrainian armed conflict on the mobility of these displaced persons. The first way to study the impact of a selected conflict on population mobility is quantitative data analysis. In this analysis are compared the data on conflict intensity with data on internal migration in Ukraine and international migration to the states Russia, Poland and Czechia. The second way this diploma thesis examines the impact of the conflict on population mobility is based on the research of ten Ukrainians who left for Czechia from conflict areas and whose primary reason was the military conflict. The results show that there are links between the intensity of the military conflict and the migration strategy of the people of Eastern Ukraine.

This thesis concerns the puzzling question of why Swedish policy makers were surprised by the Ukraine crisis, despite multiple warnings being present. It aims to understand what was so surprising and to explain the effect of the surprise, the foreign, security, and defense policy U-turn. In order to understand this puzzle the thesis uses a framework based on strategic surprise theory from the victims perspective and concludes that surprise theory alone cannot explain the effect of the Ukraine crisis and thus leaves the research puzzle unanswered. By adding to the theory the concept of cognitive vicinity an answer to the research question is brought to light. The surprise lies in the realization of worrying similarities, a distinct feeling of proximity, in the circumstances surrounding Ukraine and Sweden. It became evident that if it could happen to Ukraine, something similar could happen to us.

This study focus on evolution of the business environment in Russia since the fall of Soviet Union, its main features and the impacts of Ukraine Crisis on it. At first, the term business environment is generally described. Next part is dedicated to the most important steps of transformation process Russia underwent and the consequences of 1998 Russian financial crisis. Evaluation of the current performace is based on main economic indicators and the rankings created by international organizations. Second part describes the roots and the development of Ukraine Crisis and the timeline of the measures imposed. Impacts are examined not only from macroeconomic view, but also from the point of view of czech companies exporting to Russia.

This Thesis is titled The Energy Geopolitics of Russia and its main purpose is to analyze the energy geopolitics of Russia and the country's shifting energeopolitical pivot to Asia, especially to China. The Thesis is divided into three respective sections -- a theoretical approach, Russian geopolitics of energy, and one descriptive and exploratory case study. It strives to answer three main research questions considering Russia's shifting energeopolitical pivot, Ukraine crisis, and the development of Russia's foreign policy in regard to her energy geopolitics.

In this paper I set out to explore the concept of framing and framing contests, as modelled by scholars of international relations Krebs and Jackson in their model of rhetorical coercion. I proceed to conduct a frame analysis on the case of the Ukraine crisis, using statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen concerning the events. I do this by a research method known as content analysis, more specifically its qualitative version. Qualitative content analysis is an established method in the sub-discipline of international relations, and combining it with frame analysis provides an interesting analysis of this case. In line with Krebs and Jackson’s theory, I find that without a common frame among the actors, the debate is indeed fundamental and wide-ranging, with Russia and NATO not only having different positions on issues, but first and foremost speaking about different issues altogether concerning the Ukraine crisis. Lastly, while I find qualitative content analysis satisfactory in analysing framing contests, other areas of their model of rhetorical coercion is lacking, more specifically that their description of the causal relations in rhetorical coercion is inapplicable on the international dynamic of politics, and suggest that a new causal model be created by integrating qualitative content analysis and foreign policy analysis.

Diplomová práce se zabývá analýzou zahraničně-kulturní a vzdělávací politiky SRN s důrazem na vzdělávací sektor ve vztahu k Rusku během třetí vlády Angely Merkelové. Pozornost je věnována především klíčovým změnám a definici normativních, institucionálních a koncepčních rovin. Úvodní část práce se věnuje základnímu uvedení do tématu, stanovení cílů, tezí a výzkumných otázek. Dále je zde popsána metodologie a kritické zhodnocení pramenů a literatury. První kapitola teoreticky vymezuje analytické koncepty soft-power, civilní mocnost, geo- ekonomická mocnost a "Wir müssen kleine Brötchen backen", které umožňují podrobněji popsat zkoumanou oblast. V této části je také definována zahraničně-kulturní politika a její hlavní instrumenty. Druhá kapitola představující empirickou část diplomové práce se podrobně věnuje vzdělávacímu sektoru zahraničně-kulturní a vzdělávací politiky SRN ve vztahu k Rusku v letech 2013 až 2017. Skrze klíčové programy a projekty jsou rozebírány cíle, tematické okruhy, programové, koncepční a částečně i finanční změny zkoumané politiky. Třetí kapitola se věnuje analýze a vyhodnocení těchto změn. Kromě toho je věnována pozornost i kontinuitě ve vybraných oblastech a efektivnosti autorem zavedeného konceptu "Wir müssen kleine Brötchen backen". Následuje závěr práce, který shrnuje...