Turkey has been part of the history of European integration for the past half century, and during this period the country has become a strong economic and strategic partner of EU as we know it today. The objective of the thesis is to evaluate the extent to which Turkey´s political environment has changed since 1999 when Turkey obtained candidate status. At the same time the thesis examines the effectiveness of EU enlargement conditionality for membership regards to its transformative power. In addition, the author attempts to evaluate a Turkey´s progression of fulfillment of the political criteria for accession. Fulfillment of these conditions is demonstrated on numerous particular events. The main attention is focused on current development in the country that strongly shakes the mutual political dialogue. The theoretical part contains the chapters about the enlargment policy, the criteria for accession focusing on the Copenhagen criteria of the political area, and the accession process itself. It also defines the key concepts related to enlargement policy - europeanization and conditionality. The analytical part deals with internal political developments and changes due to the EU influence as well as with the fulfilling the accession criteria. In the end, there is an attempt to evaluate the Turkey´s accession process, the impact of EU conditionality and the results achieved. The attention is also focused on the evaluation of the Turkey´s perspective of EU membership considering the current developments. Finally, possible alternative options of Turkey-EU relations are outlined.

The paper gives a picture of Turkey`s readiness for the membership in the EU. The Copenhagen criteria serve as a base for illustration of the status quo of Turkey`s preparation process. As Turkey`s negotiation process has already last for several decades, the first part of the thesis briefly describes the development of relations between EU and Turkey. The second part concentrates on the Copenhagen criteria and explains its origins as well as its content. Finally, the last part of thesis examinates to what extent Turkey fulfills the given areas of political and economic Copenhagen criteria. The focus was given on the most problematic areas as the main aim was to explain the origins of these problems and consequent obstacles Turkey has to tackle.

This thesis deals with identification, analysis and critical assessment of challenges for international relations arising in the Arctic in connection with global climate change, which results mainly into decrease of the sea ice. Copenhagen School forms the primary theoretical bedrock of the thesis. The thesis maps the approach of different theoretical paradigms to the Arctic region throughout the history and on this basis it justifies the relevance of application of the concept of security sectors defined by Copenhagen School on the region. The thesis also maps the current governance mechanisms of the Arctic region as far as international law and institutional arrangements are concerned. The analysis of concrete challenges for international relations is structured according to the sectors of security defined by Copenhagen School. Thus, challenges in the environmental, societal, economic, political and military sectors are examined.

HIV/AIDS is for many decades one of the major global health issues. It has, therefore, attracted attention of scholars from different fields of study, including security studies. This Master's Thesis seeks to contribute to debates surrounding the issue of securitizing the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The main aim of this thesis is to apply the Copenhagen School's theoretical framework on the case of HIV/AIDS, evaluate the possibility of explaining the international reaction to the pandemic through securitization, and assess whether or not the HIV/AIDS was successfully securitized in South Africa, mainly through effort of the relevant international actors. The case of the Republic of South Africa was chosen because it is one of the worst affected countries by the disease in the world. After discussing the Copenhagen School's securitization theory and its critics, the origins, progression and nature of the disease is explained. The thesis then proceeds with the description and examination of the current state of the epidemic in South Africa as well as the negative influence the segregation and apartheid policy had on the perception of the disease and its spread. The thesis looks at possible securitizing actors of the issue and analysis their discourse in the search for securitizing moves associated with...

The topic of the thesis are the activities of drug cartels in Mexico, which can act as a threat to the state. To assess the severity of threats was used the concept of security offered by representatives of the Copenhagen School. They divide security into five sectors and allow us to do a deeper analysis. This is a case study where a few cases are examined in depth. The main objective is therefore to assess whether the activity of Mexican drug cartels is an objective threat to the state. As part of our work, we set a secondary goal. It consists in comparison the approaches of former Mexico presidents Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieta in the context of the fight against drug cartels. We will therefore concentrate on common but also different features in the respective policies of both actors.

The diploma thesis titled Securitisation of Organized Violence in Europe: The Case of Great Britain and Italy deals with the analysis of security discourses in the United Kingdom during the conflict in Northern Ireland and Italy during the war with the Sicilian Mafia according to the securitization theory of the so-called Copenhagen School and their subsequent comparison. The main aim of this thesis is to capture the form of securitization processes in Italy in connection with the local organized crime. To reach this objective the situation in Italy is confronted with securitization processes in Northern Ireland whose conflict is a frequent subject of international relations and security studies. The theory of securitization as a research tool is presented in its original form formulated by the Copenhagen School and is supplemented by numerous criticisms by later securitization theorists. A significant part of the thesis is focused on a thorough analysis of historical and social context of the investigated phenomenon and on capturing of many securitization statements of political actors to which this work is primarily oriented. The discourse analysis is structured into five stages that reflect the most dramatic periods in development of the presented issue. These periods are characterized by the...

The aim of this paper is to find out whether the securitization theory of the Copenhagen School is applicable outside euro-american space. This topic is chosen because of the contradicting opinions of theorists regarding the universality of the theory. Many authors criticize also the disregard of the process, context, pictures or physical actions. The theory is applied in societal sector in Egypt on nine cases including human rights non-governmental organizations, political opponents, critics and asylum seekers. The development of securitization, implementation of extraordinary measures, results and impact of the securitization are monitored in these cases. Attention is paid also to the fact whether securitization took into consideration context, process and whether pictures and physical actions played any role and what role it was. Method used in the paper is instrumental case study. It aims at the explanation of narrowly defined case on the basis of the theory. In the stated cases the threats to identity are presented as "others", alien and with the exception of one case as "Western" which means different from the Egyptian identity. The implementation of extraordinary measures to deal with the threats then becomes legitimate. The main contribution of the paper is the finding that the...

The present thesis deals with the changing status position of the army in the French defence policy according to the expanded security concept of the Copenhagen school. The concept of security in France has changed after the end of the Cold War, the consequent disappearance of the threat represented by the clash of the East and West and with the expansion of the threat sector and referent objects. It was necessary that the role of the state and its army has to change based on the newly defined threats. Throughout French history its army occupied an important position as it ensured France its independence and grandeur. However, events associated with the end of the Cold War have resulted in changes in the French defence policy. There is an expansion in the tasks that the military must assume to protect its state. On the basis of three factors (France's approach to the international system, the protection of the individual and the receding role of the army) the present thesis analyzes the changing role of the army in the defence of France.

Tomáš Hach - The Politics of EU Enlargement: Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia Abstract The diploma thesis deals with the topic of the politics of EU enlargement and perspectives of future developments in this area. Its main objectives are to define the politics in theory, to introduce it in the context of the Western Balkans and apply it to the three selected cases - Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia. The work considers the historical development since 1990's as an important factor with a huge influence on current negotiation, and therefore the thesis pays high attention to that. Besides the historical excursion, the thesis deals with topics of political development, introduces the status of current negotiations and the relationship between the European Union and certain countries since the establishment of the first official contact. Through the comparative case study, despite differing positions of states within the framework of negotiations, it is highlighted that all countries share common problems. The method of compliance and non-compliance generates common problems as well as underlines the particular specifics. An important contribution is also the comparison of individual countries based on fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria in the context of current affairs.

Master's Thesis Kristýna Čermáková Abstract This master's thesis explores the topic of the securitization of migration in the Czech Republic and the gender dimension of the discourse on migration. After a theoretical exploration of the migratory process and the specificities of its female face, a discourse analysis of the Czech media will present the main epistemological core of the work. The primary research question attempts to identify the ways in which the Czech media contributes to the shifting perception of migration as belonging to the sphere of politics, even presenting migration as a threat to security. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter provides a theoretical insight into migration studies, the motives to migrate and the phenomenon of forced migration. Despite the general assumption of mainstream academics that migrants are mainly men, the second chapter shows that women's experiences with migration differ greatly from those of men. Based on the Copenhagen stream of thought, the discourse analysis of the Czech media carried out in the third chapter points to the construction of perceptions about migration within Czech society. The absence of gender in the public discourse on migration is further analyzed in the last chapter. The missing gender dimension proved to be...