The diploma thesis deals with the regime change in the context of the Arab Spring 2011 with focus on Tunisia, Egypt and Syria. The aim of the thesis is to determine factors causing different progress towards political reforms in each country. Theoretical framework is provided by characteristics of undemocratic regimes, transitions to democracy and democracy itself. Each country is introduced from the historical point of view with focus on the 20th century, especially current methods of the governance. Several conclusions are made based on analytical -- synthetical method of reviewing historical, political and socioeconomical factors determining the domestic situation in compared countries and explaining their influence on different transition progress towards the new political system.

The use of heavy weaponry - such as tanks - in recent and current military conflicts has been overlooked, as were the principles of conventional warfare in general. With relation to armed conflict, attention has been given especially to the questions of conflict prevention and deconfliction. The thesis focuses on the ongoing conventional conflict in Syria, with the emphasis on the tactics of use of heavy armoured vehicles by non-state actors. The thesis takes advantage of volume of accessible primary sources concerning the topic to establish distinct modes of use of heavy weapons - the patterns of deployment, to analyse how the heavy weapons itself and the environment affecting their usage. On the two chosen case studies, these patterns of deployment are operationalised into an independent variable to assess whether the use of heavy armoured vehicles by insurgents in north-western Syria could be causally link with the outcome of military operations.

The aim of this thesis was to find out what role psychological and social factors play in the motivation of jihadist foreign fighters to leave for Syria. The sub-questions examine, on the one hand, how authors of the studies focused on motivation of foreign fighters work with the theoretical background and concepts related to the psychosocial sphere, their interpretation of the key concepts and motivation of foreign fighters and, on the other hand, what psychosocial motivation to leave for Syria prevails in existing studies. In order to answer these questions, I chose several theoretical models of radicalization that work mainly with the psychological and social dimension of the problem.Subsequently, I chose several main psychosocial categories and narratives to analyse the studies, with the possibility of new categories occurring. I was particularly interested in existential motivation such as search for meaning or the identity crisis, in the case of jihadists also connected with the ideology and the influence of social groups. Based on the analysis, I found out that the theoretical basis, the specific definitions of individual key concepts and the logic of the interpretation of the respondents' words in the majority of the studies are missing or not fully described. Without the proper definition...

The main aim of the master thesis titled "Syria and the concept responsibility to assist: new approach towards conflict resolution?" is to find out whether the extension of the doctrine of responsibility to protect by the concept of responsibility to assist that is based on the support of nonviolent movements could work as a new approach towards conflict resolution and thanks to this it could constitute another way of international assistance and civilian protection in cases when it is the regime that perpetrates the violence against its own population. For this reason the thesis, via the Syrian civil war that offers wide range of internal responses to the violence perpetrated by the regime against civilians, focuses on three different forms of international involvement and assistance. These are the international military intervention under the third pillar of R2P, the backing of domestic violent groups and insurgents and last but not least the assistance to nonviolent movements and civil initiatives in the form of R2A as a potential expansion of the second pillar under the R2P doctrine. These approaches are analyzed with regard to the issues of state sovereignty and moral responsibility to protect civilians that arises from the inconsistency of these two aspects in relation to any kind of...

This thesis deals with the phenomenon of Central Asian foreign fighters in Syria, 2011- 2017. It analyzes their radicalization, recruitment, and travel patterns. Special emphasis is placed on tracking the home states' responses, including elements of de-radicalization and counter-radicalization. The thesis has found that there is arguably no single factor explaining the Central Asian fighters' radicalization; nor is there a typical profile of a Central Asian fighter. Available data suggest that radicalization and extremist recruitment most often occur in Russia. Furthermore, the analysis of travel patterns has shown that the majority of Central Asian fighters traveled to Syria either indirectly via multiple countries (again, most often Russia) or directly from their country of origin, and then crossed the border from Turkey. The thesis concludes that all five Central Asian states have adopted policies to address the perceived security threat of returning foreign fighters, whereas the hard, restrictive and punitive approach has been prevalent all across the region.

This thesis applies the concept of religious (national) identity to the cases of Saudi Arabia, Iran and their proxy allies - state and non-state actors - in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The aim was to show that in the Middle East, Sunni and Shiite affiliations matter in the relationship between the regional powers and respective proxies, as opposing to realist statement that alliances, conflicts and political developments are only governed by pragmatic power interests. Additionally, the work examines whether religious national identities have impact on the dynamics of proxy conflicts. Overall, the objective was to establish comprehensive image of how ideational/constructivist and pragmatic/realist factors work in combination to influence alliances, enmities and conflicts in the Middle East. Using qualitative methods of research, religious (national) identities of Saudi Arabia, Iran and their allies in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen were constructed so as to create ideational and realist points of departure, and then interlinked to show how convergence of religious identities helps in creating durable alliances if used in targeted manner as a strategic tool which can help safeguard national interests. The work shows notable differences in the use of this tool between Saudi Arabia and Iran, suggesting that it...

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the Russian Federation plays an important role in the debate over humanitarian interventions. These are defined by the Responsibility to Protect principle that allows international military intervention into internal political crisis of other countries in case the security of civilian population is in danger. Russia sent its army to Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014 referring to this principle. However, it was Russia's reluctance to approve any intervention that governed the diplomatic negotiations during the Libyan civil war in 2011. The importance of the problem of various understanding of the R2P principle by different world powers is still crucial and is also clearly visible on the ongoing conflict in Syria. This thesis focuses on the approach of the Russian Federation to the Responsibility to Protect principle. It determines general factors that influence the issue of humanitarian intervention in the framework of Russian foreign policy, and puts Russian attitude to the overall context of the discussion about this principle. The thesis confirms the assumption that the R2P principle has become a Russian foreign policy instrument, which has been misused within the Russian sphere of interest and used to obstruct the interventions initiated by the...

Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis five years ago Syria, its neighbouring countries as well as the western world have been affected by the tremendous casualties brought about by the war. The thesis examines various forms and scale of these casualties, namely the economic, social, political and environmental implications. In its first part the thesis identifies true reasons and motives behind the Syrian crisis so that one can understand actions taken by involved actors. Subsequent to it is a detailed presentation of data on economic and social consequences of the Syrian war. Having all the crucial information on table the third chapter attempts to answer a hypothesis that Syria despite the still ongoing bloody conflict holds big potential for dynamic and long-term economic growth. The thesis could be useful for those seeking independent perspective on the crisis as well as for those who are looking for entrepreneurial opportunities in the after-war Syria.

The thesis "Syrians in the Czech Republic" is engaged with the Syrians living in the Czech Republic, and their activities here. Attempts to outline the Syrians view on the Czech society and their integration into Czech society. The main method of work is a field research among the Syrians supplemented with study of technical literature. Keywords Syria, Syrians, the Arabic spring, the Arab revolution, Bashar Assad, the Baas, Syrian identity, islam, emigration, immigration, integration process, problem of identity

ENGLISH ABSTRACT This thesis deals with the specification of bazaars and the bazaar economy. Bazaar [bāzār] is a Persian word for marketplace, also used in Turkish- çarşi [čarši]. Like the Arabic term souk وسق [súq], bazaar is both the concrete trading place, where many people meet and interact but like the English word market or the French le marché is also understood as a more abstract notion of buying and selling in the sense of demand and supply and it involves small shopping stalls, modern shopping and business avenues and shopping malls as well. Bazaar can refer to a single shopping unit or a street in the frame of the marketplace or outside its boundaries or to the whole business complex. The marketplace has symbolic and social importance indicative of its urban centrality. The souk is seen as one of the quintessential oriental spaces. Clifford Geertz and his own studies of Moroccan and Indonesian rural markets inspired many economic anthropologists to examine the structure of marketplaces in the developing world as products of informational scarcity. The bazaar economy was defined in Clifford Geertz' extremly influential anthropological study on the bazaar economy in Sefrou (1978), a quite small town in Morocco with about 600 shops. Geertz was the first to emphasise the important difference...