Buuruljin Enkhbold Finance and Growth Nexus: CEE & Central Asia and Beyond Abstract (English) This thesis investigates the effect of financial development on economic growth using both global sample and regional samples focusing on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Central Asia during the time period 1960-2013. The results of fixed effect panel and system GMM estimators suggest that the effect of private credit on growth had been neutral until 2007 and the effect turns negative if the time period is up to 2013. The negative effect of private credit on growth has been the largest for CEE and Central Asia, particularly for non-EU countries in the region. Stock market capitalisation and lending deposit spread have consistent effects regardless of the choice of time frame which implies that economies benefit from larger stock markets and lower lending deposit spread. Keywords: financial development, credit, stock market, spread, growth, CEE and Central Asia, generalized method of moments (GMM)

This diploma thesis focuses on the problem of legal and illegal labor migration in the Russian Federation, both at federal and local levels, namely in St. Petersburg. The thesis has two main objectives and firstly focuses on the federal level. There it attempts to map current migration trends in the Russian Federation with an emphasis on labor migration, its legislation and rights and the status of working migrants in Russian society. It examines the development of migration policy of the Russian Federation from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the present towards a particular group of people. The author of this thesis tries to analyze it critically and to evaluate the effectiveness and the adequacy of taken measures. In order to fulfill the first objective, some additional questions were put. An integral part of the thesis is an analysis of the integration policy of the Russian Federation vis-à-vis working migrants and problems faced by labor migrants on Russian territory. The second objective is to monitor development and current migration situation in the second largest city of the Russian Federation - St. Petersburg. This is a case study, where the emphasis is placed on labor migration and the way how the amendments to federal immigration laws affect the situation in the regions.

This diploma thesis, entitled "The Geopolitical Importance of the South China Sea", deals with the issue of the South China Sea dispute in view of the economic and strategic importance of the region. The main goal is to analyze the claims of individual countries and to find out whether this dispute has the potential to grow into an armed conflict. The dispute arose from overlapping territorial claims that countries in the region began to make after the end of World War II. This is primarily the case of the various maritime features in the vicinity of which there are considerable reserves of natural resources. It is the interest in securing these resources that is the main issue of the dispute. To this day, this situation has not been resolved and on the contrary it has triggered a response from states outside the region, mainly the United States of America and Japan. In order to achieve the goal of this diploma thesis, the theoretical framework, which is geopolitics and critical geopolitics, is first introduced. Furthermore, the general meaning of seas and oceans with the current legislation is introduced. On this basis, country case studies are conducted with the aim of making a comparative analysis that should clarify the current form of the dispute and the potential of the dispute to grow into...

BILL, Simon. Bandwagoning with the Belt and Road: Russia's changing attitude towards the Chinese presence in Central Asia post-Crimea. Praha, 2019. 78 pages. Master's thesis (Mgr.). Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of International Studies. Department of Russian and East European Studies. Supervisor Prof. Jan Šír, Ph.D. Abstract Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has considered the Central Asian states to be a part of its exclusive sphere of influence. In recent years, however, China has also increased its presence in the region, investing heavily in the energy and transportation sectors. This is exemplified by its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), specifically its Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) component, which was launched in September 2013. As China increased its presence in the region, and Russia launched its own initiative, the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU), the two powers seemed to be on a collision course. However, relations between the two never deteriorated as predicted. Instead, the opposite has happened. In 2015, Russia found itself internationally isolated due to its controversial actions in Ukraine and embraced China's initiative. This dissertation will seek to explain Russia's increasingly accommodating attitude towards China's growing investment and influence...

Doctoral thesis Regional Transition - From Conflict to Cooperation examines the transformation of world regions from non-cooperative to. It brings reconceptualization of the peaceful change, which it understands as a continuum - negative peace, positive peace, and security community. This understanding builds on the existing literature on peaceful change, yet the conceptualization of the stages is innovated. The main goal of this dissertation is to capture the dynamic process of transition from negative to positive peace, and from positive peace to the security community. It uses findings from the literature on peaceful changes and trust-building to build two comprehensive mechanisms of transition that are subsequently traced with the method of process-tracing in two cases of the region for each type of transition. The focus is on the entities and activities producing the qualitative change in the regional relations. For the transition from negative to positive peace, Western Balkans in the period from 1999 to 2011, and Southeast Asia from 1966 to 2003 are chosen. For the transition from positive peace to the security community, Western Europe (1957-2004) and North America (1940s- 2011) are chosen.

The goal of this thesis is to clarify the issues related to the New Order in East Asia and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Emphasis will be added to motives which lead Japan to the creation of a new arrangement in East Asia. These motives are represented by both Japan's strategic interests, among which was the struggle for obtaining access to natural resources (such as iron ore, coal and oil), as well as the control over a certain part of Asian territory with the intention of creating a buffer zone, mainly because of fearing the Soviet Union. The effort to control the Far East was further strengthened by the Great Depression, which resulted with the creation of enclosed trade blocks. A significant source of Japanese expansionist policy was presented by the ideology of Pan-Asianism, which played a large role in Japan's foreign policy making since the second half of the1920s. Pan-Asianism had been originally focused mainly on Northeast Asia and only later was it utilized to legitimize the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia. The thesis also pays much attention to the creation of Japanese puppet regimes, both on occupied Chinese territory and in Southeast Asia. An important role here is played by the Japanese effort to cooperate with local elites, both political and religious. Not only...

Diploma thesis "Neoclassical Realism and the Dynamics of Power in Eastern Asia: U.S. Foreign Policy toward China" is testing specific theoretical propositions of neoclassical realism on the evolution of U.S. foreign policy toward China from 1950 until present. This single case study uses congruence method and process-tracing to test the effect of intervening variables on the foreign policy deviation from neorealist proposition. Paper assesses theoretical progressivity of neoclassical realism and on this basis analyzes possible future evolution of Sino-American relations and in similar fashion presents suggestions to effective U.S. foreign policy.

Master thesis analyzes strategic behavior of the PRC in the region of the Northeast Asia in direct relationship with regional missile defense. The aim is to analyze motives of China`s regional strategic behavior with respect to the specific technological element (= Theatre Missile Defense) on the basis of predetermined analytical levels: realistic, liberal and constructivist. But there are great differences in technological configuration of individual missile defense systems or in the configuration of the relationship of regional actors with the PRC. Thus the thesis will comprise of case studies analyzing the complex relationship of the PRC and regional actors (that are creating regional missile defense). The creation of regional missile defense can endanger China`s vital strategic interests (in the region of Northeast Asia) under specific conditions. But the regional strategic behaviour of the PRC is moderate. The aim is to explain, why the PRC does not change its regional strategic behavior in direct connection with emerging theater missile defence.

À Astana, la capitale du Kazakhstan, le russe et le kazakh s’entremêlent quotidiennement dans les conversations. Ce mémoire porte sur les idéologies linguistiques qui soutiennent le codeswitching entre les différents registres du kazakh et du russe. J’ai réalisé trois mois de terrain ethnographique durant lesquels j’ai conduit de l’observation du paysage et des pratiques linguistiques que j’ai contrastées avec des entrevues de type récit de vie. Cette approche m’a permis de souligner que le russe est privilégié dans les contextes publics : c’est la langue de l’école, du travail, des commerces et des médias. Le russe ouvre de nombreuses portes et peut être considéré comme un index de réussite sociale. Le registre « domestique » du kazakh est caractérisé par ses emprunts et ses calques au russe. Il est principalement utilisé dans les contextes liés à la famille et aux traditions. Ce registre est un emblème de l’identité kazakhe. Pour cette raison, un parent peut exiger de quelqu’un qu’il performe ce registre, ce qui est une source d’anxiété. Cependant, le kazakh domestique n’est pas désirable dans toutes les situations. Des siècles de discours racistes ont stigmatisé la nationalité kazakhe et ce stigma est transmis au registre domestique. Le kazakh « institutionnel » est une variété qui a été développée par des acteurs qui gravitent autour du gouvernement spécifiquement pour échapper au stigma. Il s’agit d’une forme linguistique puriste qui vise à performer l’État-nation du Kazakhstan. Son utilisation, qui occasionne un maximum d’anxiété, est limitée aux rituels de l’État, tels que les discours présidentiels et les publications gouvernementales. Pour que cette théâtralité soit possible, le kazakh institutionnel est une exigence pour tous les employés du secteur public. Inversement, cela crée un incitatif à apprendre ce registre, particulièrement pour les Kazakhs qui ont un niveau d’éducation postsecondaire en russe. Je soutiens que la guerre russo-ukrainienne déstabilise l’équilibre entre les registres. Le conflit affecte l’Asie Centrale politiquement, économiquement et socialement, notamment par l’arrivée de centaines de milliers de migrants russes. Dans ces circonstances tendues, j’ai observé une augmentation de l’audibilité du kazakh. Surtout, je défends que la population est en train de redéfinir le sens de parler kazakh en public pour en faire un acte de résistance. Dans ce contexte en transformation, les langues sont utilisées métonymiquement pour discuter de questions identitaires et politiques. / In Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital, Russian and Kazakh are intertwined daily. This MA thesis is concerned with linguistic ideologies supporting code preferences between registers of Kazakh and Russian. I conducted three months of ethnographic fieldwork involving the observation of linguistic landscape and practices that I contrasted with life stories interviews. This approach allowed me to highlight that Russian is privileged in public contexts, such as schools, place of work, shops, and medias. For this reason, Russian opens many doors and can be considered an index of social success. The “domestic” register of Kazakh is characterized by borrowing and calques from Russian. It’s most employed in contexts relating to family and deemed as traditional. This linguistic variety is emblematic of Kazakh identity. Consequently, parents, especially elders, can demand someone to switch to this register, which is a source of anxiety. However, domestic Kazakh isn’t desirable in all situations. Centuries of racist discourse led to the stigmatization of Kazakh nationality, a stigma which is transmitted to the domestic register. “Institutional” Kazakh is a linguistic variety developed by actors close to the government specifically to escape the stigma link to the domestic register. It’s a purist register that aims to perform the Nation-state of Kazakhstan. Its use, which leads to a maximum of anxiety, is limited to state’s rituals, such as presidential speeches or governmental publications. For this performative theatricality to be maintained, institutional Kazakh as to be a requirement for all public sector’s employees. In turn, this requirement creates an incentive to learn this register, especially for Kazakhs who already hold a postsecondary education in Russian. I argue the Russo-Ukrainian war is destabilizing this equilibrium between registers. The conflict affects Central Asia politically, economically and socially, notably through the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Russian migrants. In this tense circumstances, I observed an increased audibility of the Kazakh language. Most importantly, I assert the population is redefining speaking Kazakh in public—in a wider array of forms—as an act of resistance. In this uneasy and moving context, languages seem to be used metonymically to discuss identity and political claims.

La recherche sur le comportement politique a souvent privilégié les données provenant des cultures occidentales, mais cette approche risque d’occulter les subtilités du comportement humain en dehors de ce cadre. Les chercheurs risquent ainsi de tomber dans le piège de généraliser à partir de contextes spécifiques, ce qui peut conduire à des conclusions erronées. Cette thèse aborde cette problématique en examinant les attitudes et les comportements politiques en Asie de l’Est à travers le prisme de la culture confucéenne. Son objectif principal est d’interroger certaines idées établies sur le comportement politique afin d’évaluer leur pertinence au-delà des frontières occidentales. Cette thèse est composée de trois chapitres empiriques distincts. Chacun d’entre eux aborde un domaine spécifique où la culture peut exercer son influence. Le premier chapitre empirique (chapitre 2) se penche sur le biais de négativité dans les attitudes des citoyens envers l’autorité politique. Il est bien établi que les évaluations politiques des citoyens sont plus fortement influencées par des perceptions négatives que positives des caractéristiques, des événements et des résultats politiques. Dans ce chapitre, j’avance l’idée que la culture joue un rôle crucial mais souvent sous-estimé dans ces biais de négativité. Une analyse multiniveau utilisant la World Values Survey (WVS) met en lumière que le biais de négativité dans la satisfaction à l’égard des gouvernements nationaux diminue à mesure que le niveau de collectivisme dans une société augmente. En outre, j’explore l’impact des valeurs culturelles au niveau individuel en m’appuyant sur les données de l’Asian Barometer Survey (ABS). En accord avec les résultats de la WVS, je constate que le collectivisme atténue l’asymétrie négative-positive lorsque les citoyens évaluent l’autorité politique en fonction des performances gouvernementales. Ces découvertes soulignent l’importance de la prudence lorsqu’il s’agit de généraliser le biais de négativité comme un modèle décrivant uniformément les attitudes des citoyens envers l’autorité politique à travers le monde. Le deuxième chapitre empirique (chapitre 3) plonge dans le phénomène du biais de négativité dans la construction de la confiance généralisée, soit la confiance que les individus accordent aux membres de la société. Les études antérieures ont démontré que la confiance est relativement facile à ébranler, mais difficile à instaurer. Toutefois, je soutiens dans ce chapitre que la littérature sur le biais de négativité est ancrée dans des hypothèses individualistes et néglige les contextes collectivistes. À travers une expérience en ligne préenregistrée réalisée en Chine, je constate que l’exposition à des informations négatives sur le manque de fiabilité d’autres membres de la société a un impact plus marqué sur la confiance généralisée que l’exposition à des informations positives équivalentes sur la fiabilité de ces individus. Cependant, l’effet asymétrique de l’information sur la confiance est conditionné par les valeurs culturelles auto-attribuées par les participants. Les individus aux valeurs collectivistes élevées montrent moins de biais de négativité dans le processus de formation de la confiance. Ces résultats éclairent le rôle de la culture dans la compréhension de la dynamique de la confiance et appellent à une exploration plus approfondie des influences culturelles sur le biais de négativité. Le troisième chapitre empirique (chapitre 4) explore l’écart de participation électorale entre hommes et femmes. En Asie de l’Est, la participation politique des femmes n’a pas évolué au même rythme que le développement économique de la région. Cet écart est souvent imputé à l’influence de la culture confucéenne qui met l’accent sur la hiérarchie, l’ordre et l’obéissance. Toutefois, ce chapitre nuance cette perspective en mettant en avant comment certains aspects du Confucianisme, tels que la méritocratie, peuvent en réalité renforcer le rôle des femmes dans la société moderne en Asie de l’Est. Centré sur le contexte chinois, notamment sur l’institution historiquement significative du système d’examen civil (keju) basée sur Confucius, ce chapitre met en lumière l’impact durable des héritages méritocratiques sur les comportements contemporains. À l’aide de données provenant d’archives historiques et de la China General Social Survey, je découvre une corrélation négative entre les performances des ancêtres d’une préfecture aux examens keju et l’écart entre les sexes dans la participation aux élections villageoises contemporaine. Cette thèse contribue à notre compréhension de la relation entre la culture et l’engagement politique des citoyens. En se concentrant spécifiquement sur l’Asie de l’Est, cette étude représente l’une des rares investigations visant à étudier empiriquement l’influence culturelle sur les attitudes et les comportements politiques dans cette région. En plaidant en faveur d’une recherche qui va au-delà des échantillons “WEIRD”, elle ouvre la voie à de futures investigations dans des contextes globaux, ce qui permettra de développer des perspectives plus inclusives et nuancées dans le domaine de la recherche sur le comportement politique. / The political behavior literature has traditionally centered on data from Western cultures, but this tendency risks overlooking the complexities of human behavior outside the Western sphere. Researchers might fall into the trap of the exception fallacy when they propose generalized theory based on specific contexts. This dissertation addresses this issue by examining political attitudes and behaviors in East Asia through the lens of the Confucian culture. Its primary aim is to interrogate established theories of political behavior to determine their applicability beyond Western contexts. This dissertation is composed of three distinct empirical chapters. Each examines a specific domain where culture may exert its influence. The first empirical chapter (Chapter 2) investigates the negativity biases in citizens’ attitudes toward the political authority. In particular, we know that citizens’ political evaluations tend to be more strongly influenced by negative than positive perceptions of traits, events and policy outcomes. In this chapter, I argue that culture is a significant yet understudied correlate of negativity biases. A multilevel analysis using the World Values Survey (WVS) demonstrates that the negativity bias in national government satisfaction weakens as a society’s level of collectivism is higher. Next, I explore the effect of cultural values at the individual level with data from the Asian Barometer Survey (ABS). In line with the results from the WVS, I find that collectivism reduces the negative-positive asymmetry when citizens evaluate the incumbent authority on the basis of government performance. These results invite more caution when taking negativity biases as a general pattern that describes citizens’ attitudes toward political authority everywhere. The second empirical chapter (Chapter 3) examines the phenomenon of negativity bias in the formation of generalized trust, the trust that individuals have in the members of society. Previous research demonstrates that generalized trust is relatively easy to destroy but challenging to create. In this chapter, I argue that the negativity bias literature is based on individualist assumptions and overlooks collectivist contexts. Using a preregistered online experiment conducted in China, I find that receiving negative information about the untrustworthiness of other social members has a more profound impact on generalized trust than receiving comparable positive information about their trustworthiness. Nevertheless, the asymmetric effect of information on trust is contingent on participants’ self-rated cultural values. Individuals with higher collectivist values tend to exhibit less negativity bias in trust development. These results shed light on the role of culture in understanding the dynamics of trust formation and call for further exploration of cultural influences on negativity biases. The third empirical chapter (Chapter 4) explores the gender gap in electoral participation. East Asian women’s political participation has not kept pace with the region’s economic development. This discrepancy is often attributed to the influence of Confucian culture, which emphasizes hierarchy, order, and obedience. This chapter nuances this perspective by highlighting how certain elements of Confucianism, such as meritocracy, may actually empower modern-day East Asian women. This chapter focuses on the Chinese context, particularly the historically significant Confucian-based meritocratic institution known as the civil examination system (keju). I argue that historical meritocratic legacies can have a lasting impact on contemporary behavior, specifically by reducing the gender gap in political participation in local village elections. Using data from historical archives and the China General Social Survey, I find a negative correlation between the performance of a prefecture’s ancestors in the keju exams and the gender gap in village election turnout among present-day respondents. This dissertation contributes to the understanding of the relationship between culture and political attitudes and behavior. In particular, this study represents one of the few investigations aimed at empirically studying the cultural influence on political attitudes and behaviors in this region. By advocating for research beyond “WEIRD” samples, it sets the stage for future endeavors that embrace global contexts and fosters more inclusive and nuanced perspectives in political behavior research.