This paper examines what happened when Sweden recognized Estonia and Latvia as sovereign states. The recognising process was part of what during the time was called "the Baltic problem". The Baltic problem was the new situation that arose around the Baltic Sea after World War I in 1918, where several new states were added. Sweden's geostrategic position was considerably better but the time after the war was a turbulent period in Sweden. Sweden needed to take into account how the victorious powers Britain and France acted in international politics. In this situation Sweden was faced with the decision to recognize the new states. This paper used the theoretical perspectives of "realism" and "idealism". Realism says that states do not respect international law, unless it is in the state's self-interest. Instead realism empathizes that the realpolitik and power politics are the main instruments of the state to achieve security. Idealism emphasizes that states will gladly take into account international law because it is morally right and also emphasizes the democratic institutions and economic cooperation to create an interdependency between states and thus achieve security. Sweden takes into account international law in the sense that Sweden wants to admit the two states when they meet the constitutional criteria. However, Sweden chose to not recognize any of the states before Britain and France had recognized them. Sweden's cautious behaviour towards the recognition and the negative attitude towards closer cooperation on security issues provide support to the realism as the theory that best explains Sweden's actions in their relationship with the newly proclaimed states of Estonia and Latvia.

James Keenan served as United States consul to Hong Kong for eight years beginning in 1853. Keenan's career demonstrated the difficulties faced by United States consuls in the Far East. Many of the problems Keenan faced during his career resulted from the juxtaposition of a man predisposed to controversy with one of the most ambiguous posts in United States consular service. Keenan's career involved him in difficulties with a United States naval commander, British authorities in Hong Kong, a United States commissioner to China, his temporary successor in Hong Kong, and even the State Department. During his career, Keenan anticipated legislative changes regarding United States consuls. Nevertheless Keenan's colorful career won him many British and American friends. However, his predeliction for controversy damaged his effectiveness as United States consul.

The French nation has been prolific of consummate diplomatists all through history, but her annals record no more brilliant achievement than that of Theophile Delcassé and Paul Cambon when they brought Great Britain into a French alliance. Even those who disapprove the consequences of their act must admit the skill and the pertinacity with which the two statesmen pursued their purpose. Their difficulties were stupendous; British governments had for years stood aloof from Continental agreements, but precedent was forced to give way before the perspicacity and perseverance of these two French statesmen. Delcassé had contributed the Entente Cordiale to the French cause in 1904. This understanding pledged British diplomatic support to France in her imperialistic venture in Morocco-nothing more; but it also provided a foundation upon which Cambon could exercise his talents in leading Great Britain into a trap. The result of these activities was the equivalent of an Anglo-French alliance. The French, to accomplish their purpose, led the British into a series of military and naval conversations as a means of working out plans of joint operations whereby the latter could assist the former in case of a Franco-German war. The conversations had their official beginning in 1906 and continued until the outbreak of war in 1914, by which time Britain was so completely obligated to France as to make her entry into the war a foregone conclusion.

With the continuing process of globalization, national economies are intensively interconnecting with external enviroment. It is especially visible for Czech Republic, which geopolitical position stresses the importance of external business relationships. Economic prosperity of countries with open economy is largely determined by export performance and inflow of foreign direct investments, both of which are supported by economic diplomacy. The first scope of this thesis is to evaluate the economic diplomacy of Czech Republic, and secondly to empirically analyze the tools, which economic diplomacy is using - foreign visits of polititians and role of embassies. The gravity model of international trade was used to study the influence of both tools on the foreign trade and investment in Czech Republic between years 1993-2013. The results show, that if at least one visit per year was realized, the export grows by 14%. However, one average high official visit is associated with rising exports by about 4.7%. On the other hand, any realtionship with FDI was not found. Further analysis confirms the importance of the embassies and thier positive impact on foreign trade, in particular with culturally distant countries, where this effect is more pronounced. Futhermore the study showed fading effect of economic...

1 Abstract Extraordinary Renditions and Human Rights Ing. Petr Švepeš The topic of this thesis is Extraordinary Rendition as the phenomenon of contemporary counter- terrorism strategies and its critical reflection in light of International Human Rights Law. Extraordinary Rendition represents a controversial method of obtaining intelligence information about terrorist activities carried out worldwide by the CIA. This method is based on the identification of terrorist suspects who might know valuable intelligence, followed by their tracing and subsequent kidnapping with direct assistance or connivance of the state in whose territory that person is located. Kidnapped persons are secretly transported by private jets via the "global spider's web" to a selected country which practices advanced interrogation techniques using various methods of torture. In this country the persons are incommunicado imprisoned and interrogated by local authorities. Extracted intelligence information is then passed on to the CIA and the suspects in this country are either criminally charged and indicted, further imprisoned without formal charges or simply "disappear." The main objective of this thesis is to present a detailed human rights analysis of Extraordinary Rendition and to identify potential violations of binding norms of...

The practice of so-called diplomatic guarantees in recent international law The aim of this thesis is to analyze the practice of so-called diplomatic assurances (guarantees) in contemporary international law and its possible impact on existing obligations of States related to the protection of human rights, especially in relation to the ban on torture. Diplomatic assurances enable a transfer of an individual from one State to another. They include an undertaking of the State receiving an individual that he or she will be treated in accordance with the conditions set by the sending State, i.e. generally in accordance with the human rights obligations. However, it has recently received a great deal of public attention due to a number of suspicious returns of alleged terror suspects into the countries with poor human rights record including a record of torture. Consequently, the opinion criticizing the reliance on diplomatic assurances evolved describing diplomatic assurances as a tool how to circumvent current obligations of States under international human rights law. First part of this thesis provides a general overview of diplomatic assurances, their history, what are the advantages and disadvantages of diplomatic assurances and whether diplomatic assurances could be considered as treaties under...

Abstract For most of the Cold War, the United States attempted to maintain friendly relations with the Communist nations comprising the Eastern Bloc, but with no other Soviet satellite was the relationship as close as it was with Romania. No other member nation of the Warsaw Pact took to the United States’ overtures so eagerly. Diplomatic relations between the United States and the Romanian Communist government were established relatively early, almost immediately following the end of the Second World War. However, it was not until 1968, when Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu denounced the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, that the Romanians finally gained the Americans’ trust. Ceauşescu’s 1968 speech attacking the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the diplomatic maneuverings surrounding it, was the pivotal moment in the relationship between the two nations, fostering an amicable relationship that would last well into the 1980s.

The 1972 Paris Peace Talks between Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho brought the American involvement in the Vietnam War to a close by early 1973. The main sticking points theretofore were stipulations in draft cease-fire agreements allowing Northern troops to remain in the South and the National Liberation Front's participation in South Vietnam's government. President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu adamantly opposed both proposed stipulations lest his power be diluted. Thus, Kissinger had to broker a diplomatic agreement between Thieu and Le Duc Tho which was acceptable to US foreign policy viz. “peace with honor.”

Abstract This thesis explores the influence of masculinity in twentieth century American foreign policy through examining the career of Guy “Machine Gun” Molony. Molony was an Irish American mercenary from New Orleans, whose career saw the transformation of Honduras from a banana republic to a recipient of dollar diplomacy. Unlike the majority of mercenaries who did not use their experience to build successful careers, Molony made a name for himself in American newspapers, becoming respected and even feared by policemen and politicians. His life tells a fascinating tale of the individual male in American foreign policy, where rebellious youth used war and instability to create heroic images of themselves. This thesis argues that the U.S. State Department borrowed from the independent mercenary model, building on a foundation laid out by men like Molony to implement dollar diplomacy. Guy Molony’s career is a telling example of how perceived ideas of manhood carried imperial intentions during the era of manifest destiny and the Monroe Doctrine. Although scholars tend to focus on Western expansion when examining the ideology of manifest destiny, this thesis explores how mercenaries like Guy Molony, followed by the U.S. State Department, continued to look southward to Central America as a means for American expansion.

M.A.