This work aims to provide an analysis of the potential for international cooperation between the United States and Russian Federation. It will employ analytical and empirical approach and will introduce a geopolitical perspective on bi-lateral relations between the two nations. It will include an analysis of geopolitical objectives and strategies of the two nations and identify areas where their respective interests converge as well as those where they diverge. Then, it will provide an in-depth analysis of the development of mutual relations during the era of Bush-Putin presidencies and during the era of Obama-Medvedev presidencies, in order to determine the various strategies that these two nations employ in bilateral relations with one another, as well as results of such strategies. This work will focus on the different impact of various policies on relations between the countries from a geopolitical perspective and will refer to geopolitical thinking, strategies and objectives of these two nations while analyzing various political initiatives. The overall purpose will then be to evaluate the potential for international cooperation as well as main obstacles to it. It will also assess the impact of leadership composition on the ability of these two nations to overcome differences in their approach...

In my dissertation "Russian Exile and Inner Emigration An Irregular History of a Cultural Phenomenon" I attempt to examine the issue of the Russian mentality against the background of Russian literary and intellectual trends over the course of one hundred years - from the December Revolt in 1825 to the period after the October Revolution in 1917. The phenomenon of inner emigration and exile, which is characteristic for this period of time, is examined through the use of authentic sources, that is solely literary and epistolary records, as well as through the Czech reflection of the Russian soul, as it was perceived and presented from the time of Masaryk and Slavík and after them by many Czech and foreign scholars up to the present. Examining authentic testimonies, the aim of the work is to make the point that despite the confrontation with European rationalist influences, the Russian world and the so- called Russian soul essentially always retained a spiritual dimension from the Eastern civilizations, based not on rationality but on sensation, not on scholastic argumentation of the external existence of God but on a realization of the unity and the inner interconnection of the material and spiritual world.

Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in securitizing discourse of the USA and Russia: Role in the process of security policy formation of nuclear-armed states Abstract This master thesis deals with a political usage of securitization of weapons of mass destruction by presidents of the two most important nuclear powers - USA and Russian Federation. For this purpose, discursive analysis of speeches of both presidents during their first terms is performed, with a goal to identify and interpret the securitizational discourse. Result is the analysis of most common type of usage of WMD securitization for legitimization of foreign-political steps and goals of these states, and their comparison. Results of the analysis shows that in the case of the US, WMD securitization was being used mainly for legitimization of politics of active formation of international situation so it would fit the US interests. In the case of Russia on the other hand, analysed discourse was being used mainly for preservation of international status quo in as stable form as possible, due to priority of domestic situation. In both cases however, predominantly economical motivations for the use of analysed discourse can be argued.

PhDr. Vít Šimral, LL.B. (Hons) Party Politics in Intercivilisational Encounters: The Modernity Cleavage Abstract The thesis presents an extension of the Lipset - Rokkan model of cleavage-based party politics. It employs concepts of civilisational analysis, particularly the concept of multiple modernities as devised by Shmuel Eisenstadt, to describe the emergence of anti-Western fundamental movements in Russia and Egypt at the start of the 20th century. The introductory chapter discusses the existing literature and recent trends in mainstream studies of party politics, noting particularly the divergence between research into Western and non-Western political parties. The second chapter focuses on the Rokkanian branch of party studies and the use of the cleavage concept outside the political region of Western Europe. In the third chapter, the concept of 'modernity cleavage' is presented, based on theoretical assumptions common both to the Rokkanian agenda and to civilisational analysis. The fourth and fifth chapters deal with the empirical analysis of two cases, the Russian Communists and Egyptian Muslim Brothers, respectively, with the goal to extract findings from presented historical data through a basic-level comparative and ground-theoretical approach. In the final chapter, the thesis is concluded with a...

In my dissertation "Russian Exile and Inner Emigration An Irregular History of a Cultural Phenomenon" I attempt to examine the issue of the Russian mentality against the background of Russian literary and intellectual trends over the course of one hundred years - from the December Revolt in 1825 to the period after the October Revolution in 1917. The phenomenon of inner emigration and exile, which is characteristic for this period of time, is examined through the use of authentic sources, that is solely literary and epistolary records, as well as through the Czech reflection of the Russian soul, as it was perceived and presented from the time of Masaryk and Slavík and after them by many Czech and foreign scholars up to the present. Examining authentic testimonies, the aim of the work is to make the point that despite the confrontation with European rationalist influences, the Russian world and the so- called Russian soul essentially always retained a spiritual dimension from the Eastern civilizations, based not on rationality but on sensation, not on scholastic argumentation of the external existence of God but on a realization of the unity and the inner interconnection of the material and spiritual world.

Diploma thesis Russian efforts to export natural gas to People's Republic of China until 2014 is work discussing cooperation in the field of Russian natural gas deliveries to China. My aim is to analyze this cooperation and answer the question what circumstances lead these two countries to signing the deal in May 2014. This deal is unquestionably the biggest milestone in bilateral relations of Moscow and Beijing so far. The aim of the work however is not going into complex political problems of both countries. For this paper it is more important to analyze main obstacles which limit the cooperation and focus on the circumstances which allowed it to develop further. Diploma thesis is divided into several chapters. First part provides a brief view into the past and explains the absence of closer trade relations before. The next chapter focuses on the fact that this cooperation is extremely important for both aforementioned states. The third section examines the problem of Russia and China which restrict the cooperation. It also mentions outside factors, such as competing projects. Another three chapters are most important in the thesis and deal with the analysis of individual negotiations, leading to a final agreement in May 2014. Cooperation in the supply of gas in liquefied form which already works...

In today's globalized world it is nearly impossible for countries to act independently without some degree of cooperation. It is even more diffult for countries with high levels of dependence. Dependence in Belarus on others influences its foreign policy in a way that inhibits Belarus' power. The degree of dependence, power, and interdependence in Belarus is analyzed by looking at its level of participation in international organizations, trade partners, and reliance on foreign aid. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE FAKULTA SOCIÁLNÍCH VĚD Institut politologických studií Bc. Richard S. Haleš Vnímání mocenského postavení Ruska z perspektivy západních velmocí Abstract Over twenty years had passed since the world was separated into two spheres represented by two superpowers. During that time international relations changed and formerly separated Europe began to cooperate and new alliances were formed. Former superpower USSR collapsed and Federation of Russia is the transformed successor and world power. International scene has changed and simultaneously international relations. Also the power of Russia was reduced after the collapse of USSR. But even so Russia with its size, with the population of 141 mil., with all the nuclear arm power and high reserves of mineral resources remains a significant regional and world power. Main aim of this work is to find out how western powers consider Russia as a power. We cannot address such issue only from the perspective of Russia potential or from the perspective of our mass media where people can get the feeling that Russia is on its way to conquer whole Europe. We should be much more interested in the approach to Russia from representatives of various countries from Euro Atlantic area. From the area which was tied very closely to the Cold war. This thesis...

This diploma theses focuses on the possibility of federalization of Ukraine or autonomy of Donbas in order to ensure the stability of Ukrainian political system and societal cohesion. The bases for this is the analysis of the cleavages in both, Ukrainian society and its political space. The analysis is bases on definition of ideological dimensions presented by Arend Lijphart with some modifications with respect to is applicability on Ukrainian situation. This part of the theses therefore analyzes the language and religion questions, issue of foreign policy orientation, democratization and deoligarchization of Ukraine, the support for Ukrainian independence and territorial cohesion or the socioeconomic differences. On the bases of this analysis and the discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of such solutions for divided countries, the final part of the theses discusses the suitability of federalization of Ukraine and the autonomy for Donbas. Attention will be paid also to the question of the conditions for the stable functioning of unitary model in Ukraine. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The aim of this work is to determine the influence of nuclear weapons possession in 1) Russia's foreign policy in the Ukraine crisis, 2) relations between NATO and Russia. For this purpose the work monitors the development of NATO - Russia relations from the Budapest memorandum until present. The work also creates typology of russian signalling activities based on the theoretical basis of the nuclear deterrence conceptions and especially on the models of crisis signalling, which is closely linked to these conceptions. After monitoring these activities the work concludes that Russia is indeed using threats of nuclear weapons employment in the framework of it's attitude towards Ukraine crisis and also the intensity of signalling shows similar development as the relations with NATO.