This thesis deals with question of Scandinavian social model's transferability on Baltic countries and Iceland. The aim of the thesis is to establish whether and to what extent Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Iceland are ready to adopt the system. Three main methods are used in the thesis, namely: analysis of macroeconomic indicators and competitiveness indices, synthesis using the magic pentagon and comparison via coefficient of variation. The thesis comprises three main parts. The first one deals with theory and methodology. The second part applies information gained from databases of world organisations and follows their development. The last part then compares these figures.

The thesis focuses on export opportunities of Czech companies in the markets of the Baltic countries: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The first part is devoted to basic political and economic characteristics of these countries, especially after the course and consequences of the recent economic crisis in these markets. Following chapters deal with the analysis of the business environment of the Baltic states by PEST analysis and foreign trade of these countries with the Czech Republic for the past 10 years. Gathered information together with defined comparative advantages of the Czech Republic are used to identify export opportunities of Czech companies in the markets of the Baltic countries. The final part deals with more detailed analysis of these opportunities with regard to the predicted economic development in the region, presents suitable procedure to enter the markets of the Baltic States and the examples of successful exports of Czech companies.

This Thesis analyses various representation models in the matter of Latvian tractor market penetration by Zetor brand products and herewith presents all necessary information concerning this problem. All suggested representation models are going to be evaluated and the output of this evaluation is the optimal model presentation for Zetor Group management. This authority is responsible for strategic decision of final representation model for Zetor brand products on Latvian tractor market.

Beobachtete und über parametns1erte Beziehungen berechnete Windreibungs-koeffizienten werden für die Zeit eines Sturms, der in der Zeit zwischen dem 08.07.96 und 11.07.96 an der Ostseeküste tobte, verglichen. Die innerhalb der ufernahen Zone aus Windprofildaten ermittelten Reibungskoeffizienten lassen sich mit weniger als 20% Fehler auch über vorliegende parametrisierten Beziehungen aus einer standardisierten Windgeschwindigkeitsmessung berechnen. / A comparison between observed and calculated wind drag coefficients were investigated during a storm with wind speeds up to 20 m/s at the Baltic Sea coast between 3th July, 1996 and 1 lth July, 1996. The drag coefficient which was determined from observed wind speeds from wind profile measurements can also be predicted on behalf of parameterised relations with a random error less then 20%.

To counteract one of the most urgent environmental issues in the Baltic Sea; eutrophication, excessivealgal blooms and hypoxia, a proposal to use wave energy to pump oxygen-rich surface water towardsthe sea bottom is investigated. Proposals have suggested that 100 kg of oxygen per second is needed tooxygenate bottom water and enhance binding of phosphorus to bottom sediments. This corresponds to 10 000 m3/s of oxygen-rich surface water. This thesis investigates a wave-powered device to facilitatethis oxygen ux. Results give expected water flow rates between 0.15 - 0.40 m3/s and meter breakwater.The mean specic wave power for the analyzed wave data is calculated to be between 3 - 4 kW/m wavecrest and the median to 1 kW/m. This study indicate, however, that the energy uxes in the BalticProper are signicantly higher. The study gives that the wave climate of the Baltic Sea is suffciently intense to facilitate vertical pumping with a feasible number of breakwaters. A full-scale implementationin the Baltic Sea would require some 300 to 1 200 oating breakwaters of a length of 50 m each. Thetotal cost is roughly estimated to 170 - 680 million EURO. The study also concludes that the interleavingof surface water should be constrained to a relatively small vertical distance from the outlet depth(20 - 30 m) and not stir up deep water to the surface. Wave modelling for the proposed pilot locationKanholmsfjärden indicate that this bay is not large enough to permanently produce a favorable waveclimate. It is, however, still an interesting location consistently to its vicinity to Stockholm and relativelylong measurement series.

The introduction of the European Union (EU) macro-regional strategies (MRS) in the latter half of the 2000s was a significant step in the process of transformation of EU governance system. EU MRSs act as a new form of comprehensive governance framework for multi-objective and cross-sectoral cooperation in geographically defined macro-regions. This thesis examines the case of the Baltic Sea Region in order to evaluate a potential of this new governance instrument to transform cooperation arrangements in the region. In order to shed light on the strategy’s patterns and dynamics, the present study utilizes a qualitative methodological approach that uses document analysis based on a comprehensive analytical framework. The analytical framework incorporates the theoretical perspectives of multi-level and experimentalist governance, as well as the theory of differentiated integration. The main findings of this study suggest that the inception of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) in 2009 has offered an innovative and dynamic framework for cooperation that enabled a wider representation and more active participation of local and regional actors. This allowed for a more coherent and coordinated policymaking, facilitated a more responsive and transparent cooperation system in the region, as well as fostered transnational cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region by ensuring a wider engagement of non-EU countries.

The purpose of this study is to examine the seldom researched Swedish geopolitical interests inNorway in the first half of the 17th century, with the brief 1658 conquest of Trondheim as itscentral event of inquiry. Through the study of privy council protocols and chancellor AxelOxenstierna’s correspondence, the study builds a case for the confluence of security, commerce, andthe concepts of nations as the influencing factors that shaped Swedish imperial foreign policy in thedecades leading up to the dramatic war of 1658, yielding a theoretical construction of the Empire’sBaltic doctrine, or the Oxenstierna doctrine, as an explanatory model for Sweden’s early modernexpansion patterns. Subsequently through understanding of the Empire’s expansionist rationaleleading up to 1658, the conquest of the Norwegian province of Trondheim is put in a new light ashaving been an interruptive and complicated re-imagining of what the Swedish Empire should be.

The submitted diploma thesis deals with Christian Democratic political parties in the political systems of Scandinavian and Baltic countries of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Latvia. These parties form a unique "Nordic" branch of European political Protestantism; and structurally and functionally distinctive, but to a great degree homogenous, subgroup of Christian democracy. A major theoretical tradition to be applied is the Rokkanian party system analysis. Contrary to its counterparts on the continent, the Nordic branch grew not from a church-based defence stance against a secular state, but from both territorial and religious dissent on the periphery. The "cultural periphery" analysis relies heavily on history and geography of religion of the Nordic countries. However, other theoretical perspectives are taken as well in order to compare different aspects of the parties' affiliations and policies, such as their cabinet policies, ideology or EC/EU attitudes. In another chapter, possibilities and limits of Christian democracy in the Lutheran environment of Latvia and Estonia are examined. Is Scandinavian experience portable? Or are there other ways of Christian political mobilization used in the public spheres of the two Baltic countries? A similar theoretical framework is applied,...

Sustainable governance of natural resources is challenged by the poor understanding of complex human-nature couplings. Major advancements in resilience theory, acknowledging the importance of social-ecological linkages and the self-organizing capacity of social-ecological systems, provides a new perspective on research in sustainability science. Yet, limitations in methods and data for integrated studies of social-ecological systems limit progress in science and management. This PhD project aims to generate and test specific hypotheses building on social-ecological systems theory using a variety of methods and a long-term, multidimensional empirical dataset of the Baltic Sea social-ecological fisheries system. In paper 1, we ask which factors have impacted change in fisheries patterns in the Baltic Sea over a 15 year period, 1995-2009. We conclude that the responses of fishers are largely driven by top-down management regulations, which has favoured increasing scale of operations and specialization, and that the capacity of fishers to engage in ecosystem stewardship is low. Resilience could be enhanced through an increased focus on governance actions that can stimulate the self-organising capacity of the system Paper 2 focuses on one particular fishery, whose long-term dynamics have been strongly driven by an ecological regime-shift in the Baltic Sea. High potential profits and weak control has raised suspicions of widespread misreporting in this fishery. By developing a new method for reconstructing catches, we suggest that under-reporting has been significant, and likely driven by high economic incentives created by ill-designed policy. This misreporting risks contributing to a negative feed-back that substantially alters   the management cycle, and thereby constitutes a part of a social-ecological trap in this fishery. The research within this project so far indicates that there are good prospects for using the Baltic Sea as case for integrated social-ecological studies, aiming at informing resilience theory. Some ideas on future direction of the research are outlined.

Beach cusps, formed during a storm are observed. The storm acted for three hours together with high water conditions. These beach cusps exhibited a quasiuniform wavelength of 8 m. The measured topography after the storm, the calculated drift velocity of the incident wave and the synchronous edge wave are similar in scale and shape. The over one wavelength measured grain size is also correlated to the topography. A nonlinear hydro-numerical model is used to investigate the reaction of edge waves on alongshore change in bottom topography. Edge waves are greatly amplified over beach cusps. The relative amplification of edge waves on beach cusps is more than 17 times that without a change in longshore topography. Amplification is slightly greater for edge waves travelling in the same direction as the longshore current during the storm. An almost random positioning of sediment starts a feedback loop, which allows edge waves to grow and build short periodic cusps.