Diploma thesis "Paasikivi and Kekkonen - a strong position of Finnish presidents under the influence of the USSR" examines the assumptions of the prestigious position of these presidents in Finnish politics. The underlying issue is the influence of the Soviet Union on the Paasikivi's and Kekkonen's policies. The theoretical premise of the thesis is the inclusion of Finnish among so-called semi-presidential systems. The Finnish Constitution of 1919 provided the President with considerable powers, for example making him a major figure for the foreign policy of the state. However, the arrival of Paasikivi and after him Kekkonen to the presidential office led to the strengthening of the presidential office. The personality of these politicians and their political vision, experience and practices had also a significant impact on this fact. Paasikivi and Kekkonen's policies were, however, very much connected with the friendship with the Soviets, so it is possible to monitor the Soviet influence on the position of Finnish presidents within the Finnish political system.

Finnish-Russian relations after the end of Cold war are considered to be a unique form of cooperation between countries of different ideological backgrounds. This thesis focuses on the analysis of mutual historical relations of Finland and Russia, which overlap to the time after the end of the Cold war; these are deep rooted in Finland's primary endeavor to keep its status of neutrality. The main aim of this thesis is the evaluation of Finnish postneutrality as an effective tool of foreign policy against Russia with respect to the historical reflection of both countries with most regard to the social and cultural differences in the society. The base theory for determinating mutual sociocultural distinction is social constructivism from which the national identities are defined. These are essential for the enemy image provision and above all for the evaluation of the Finnish foreign policy and Finnish political behavior towards Russia. The changes and transformation of the concept of postneutrality follows in regard to the integration process in Europe with the emphasis on the security keeping possibilities related to the potential accession to NATO.

La notion de « tiers » est complexe et relève d’une grande transdisciplinarité. Les définitions afférentes ont cependant pour trait commun de l’envisager comme qualifiant la posture d’un Etat à l’écart d’un processus politique ou juridique. Relégué ainsi à un rang subsidiaire, le tiers semble désigner l’Etat considéré comme étranger au mécanisme principal à l’œuvre. Le propos de ce travail de recherche a été de s’interroger sur l’acception stratégique du tiers en tant que dépassement de la posture passive classique. Ainsi, le tiers incarne l’expression d’une identité stratégique médiane pour certains Etats développant une réponse particulière à l’égard des contraintes auxquelles leur environnement les soumet. La voie du tiers s’affirme alors comme une alternative à la lecture classique des logiques de puissance en relations internationales. Rétablissant le tiers dans sa dimension stratégique, il s’agit d’écarter la vision d’un Etat tiers exclusivement subi et d’en appréhender les différentes déclinaisons, du tiers objet au tiers sujet.Dans cette perspective, trois modèles de tiers sont convoqués à titre illustratif. La neutralisation de l’Autriche, la finlandisation de la Finlande, et la neutralité de la Suisse. Ces trois cas d’étude ont pour vocation de démontrer de la capacité stratégique de la dénomination d’ « Etat tiers » par la mise en pratique de la grille d’analyse théorique élaborée en première instance. / The notion of "third party" is complex and pertains to a certain transdisciplinarity. The concerned definitions have however for common line to envisage it as qualifying the posture of a State away from a political or legal process. Relegated so to a supplementary rank, the third-party seems to indicate the State considered as foreign to the main mechanism at work.The purpose of this research work was to wonder about the strategic dimension of the meaning of the third as overtaking of the classic passive posture. So, the third embodies the expression of a median strategic identity for some States developing a particular answer towards the constraints to which their environment submits them. The way of the third asserts itself then as an alternative in the classic reading of the logics of power in international relations. Restoring the third in its strategic dimension, it is a question of deviating from the vision of an exclusively undergone third State and of considering the various declensions, from the third as object to the third as subject.In this perspective, three models of third are summoned to illustrative title. The neutralization of Austria, the Finlandization of Finland, and the neutrality of Switzerland. This three study cases have for vocation to demonstrate of the strategic capacity of the category of "third State" by the implementation of theoretical framework established at first instance.

Barbora Skálová Whose side are you on? Radical Left in postwar Finland - on the phenomenon of Marxism-Leninism outside the Eastern Bloc Abstract The dissertation aims to explore the phenomenon of a radical left movement - Taistoists - which at the turn of the 60s and 70s for a short period of time dominated the student and cultural circles in Finland. The dissertation strives to shed light on the reasons for the uprise of the - in European context unique - pro-Soviet, Marxist-Leninist and "anti-anti- establishment" youth movement, and on its influence on home and foreign policy of Finland in terms of so-called Finlandization. The work also puts the movement into the Czechoslovakian context, mainly in relation to the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion. The dissertation discusses the theoretical anticapitalistic background of the movement and compares it to the theoretical background and political practice of coeval New Left movements in Europe and the USA. The experience of the members of the movement has been elaborated in the oral history part based on personal interviews. The oral history chapter aims to offer an explanation and a broader perspective of the taistolaiset phenomenon presented by direct witnesses and participants of the movement.

The thesis focuses on the translations of Czech literature in Finland, specifically on the person of eminent translator from Czech into Finnish, Kirsti Siraste. It describes the historical context of the second half of the 20th century when Siraste worked as an active translator, the ideology of the era which influenced the whole social climate, i. e. the translator's and publisher's work as well; and the position of Czech literature in Finland at that time. The thesis also maps the comprehensive situation of literary translation in Finland because Czech literature is a part of literary translation production as a whole. Another focus point of the thesis is the research of norms in literary translation and Finnish literary production as well. The last part of the thesis is a translatological analysis of one of Siraste's translations, specifically The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. The analysis consists of a comparison of the Czech and the Finnish text focusing on political references, which might become a subject of (self-)censorship, and other realities in the text; and other integral parts of translatological analysis - characteristics of Milan Kundera as a writer, and his work, the Czech version of the novel as a whole, the translation in the context, and the reception of the...