Seen as a valuable shortcut from Europe to Asia, the Northwest Passage could become an important shipping route, and Canada wants to be able to control it. However, the current Conservative Party government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper has led an aggressive, complex neorealist approach to securing sovereignty over the Passage consisting of loud diplomacy, military drills, and rejection of multilateral cooperation in the region. But this strategy that perceives Canada as a principle power is not sustainable. The government must accept that Canada simply cannot afford to unilaterally control and develop the Northwest Passage, and a liberal internationalist approach is what is needed. Rather than continuing to fight for international acknowledgment that the Passage is a domestic strait, Canada needs to recognize that the strait can be managed and developed much more effectively if it oversaw a multilateral development effort through the International Maritime Organization. This thesis will consist of five chapters: 1. The history of Canada and the Northwest Passage, 2. The benefits of a more accessible Arctic, 3. Challenges to developing a more open Arctic, 4. Three theoretical perspectives of Canadian foreign policy, 5. Returning to multilateralism: and effective Northwest Passage policy. Powered by...

The tax might be identifiable with a tax-law relationship or make it subject to such a relationship, i.e. it could be definable as a public obligation of a participant in the legal relationship, or might be able to both approaches. The starting point is the economic definition of taxe and precisely the functional definition used in economic theory and financial science, neatly summarized commonly available knowledge about the principles of tax, operand the analysis of the economic construction of the tax in terms of legal doctrine, by the structural elements of the tax, since the legal definition of tax lies on them. Contrary to what is commonly recognized, tax procedural rules in Czech Republic contain a general legal definition of tax. Refuted can be the view that this definition is merely a legislative abbreviation. After a relatively long exploration of the concept tax, forced by an insufficiency of theoretical knowledge on this subject, tax jurisdiction of the state is examined as the ability to impose taxes and at a same time the general requirement of legality on all levels of exercising that power of every sovereign state. KEY WORDS Tax - Legality - Tax principles - State - Tax sovereignty - Protection of property

This thesis analyses Treaty of Lisbon in order to reveal federalist principles contained in this new reformative treaty. This will enable to infer the impact on the sovereignty of the EU member states in case the Treaty of Lisbon would be ratified.

The work overviews the formation process of the European integration after the end of the Cold war and also the evolution of the notion of 'the Westphalian sovereignty' in the framework of the maintenance of the EU CFSP. It is assumed that under the conditions of a political transformation of the category 'the Westphalian sovereignty' in the framework of the EU CFSP it is intensified and requires again as a special political and practical attention, as scientific elaboration in order to figure out the perspectives of the development of the EU as the whole. As the object of this work the category of 'the Westphalia sovereignty' and its evolution in the framework of the European integration processes are taken. The subject of the work is connected with the analysis of the phenomenon of the Westphalian sovereignty in the frames of building of common European defense and security policy of the EU. The main purpose of the work is closely entwined with the identification of significant peculiarities of the ongoing transformation of the CFSP and their influence on the category of 'the Westphalian sovereignty'.

Euroscepticism has recently started to enjoy a renaissance, boasting many different works in different formats whether it be a comparative study of two European countries or, investigating Euroscepticism in different national contexts to account for possible variations of Euroscepticism. This work aims to show the contrary. Using country case studies of the Czech Republic and the UK this paper shows that regardless of temporal differences and differences in national contexts, Euroscepticism is intrinsically linked to some lines of argument concerning economy and democracy.

This thesis studies the variation of sovereignty in the international order by analysing how the general model of sovereignty is localised in the political practice of two major non-Western rising powers - China and India. I argue that their sovereignty should be understood as liquid despite the fact that these two countries are very often seen as strong defenders of 'conservative', 'absolutist' or 'Westphalian' sovereignty. The empirical core of the thesis investigates China's approach to sovereignty in relation to Hong Kong and Taiwan and India's approach to sovereignty in relation to Bhutan and Kashmir. Based on theoretical eclecticism and pluralism, I develop a theoretical and analytical framework that accounts for constitution (construction) of the sovereignty of China and India but that also have potential for being applied more broadly. It is calibrated to elucidate that sovereignty is a liquid and fluid phenomenon. It is based on the debate between Hans Kelsen and Carl Schmitt and analytically enhanced by including the perspective of scaling (derived from Human Geography) and temporal positioning (inspired by International Relations debates on the role of time). I propose three key argument. First, I show that each of the analysed states simultaneously pursues two different modes of...

Euroscepticism has recently started to enjoy a renaissance, boasting many different works in different formats whether it be a comparative study of two European countries or, investigating Euroscepticism in different national contexts to account for possible variations of Euroscepticism. This work aims to show the contrary. Using country case studies of the Czech Republic and the UK, this paper shows that regardless of temporal differences and differences in national contexts, Euroscepticism is intrinsically linked to some lines of argument concerning economy and democracy.

This thesis deals with transformations of French foreign policy towards Québec and Canada. The first president of the French Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle, as well as all his successors together with their administration supported Québec's international ambitions and its desire to be sovereign abroad in the areas that fall within its competence in internal politics according to the Canadian Constitution. This support took place mainly on the platform of Francophonie. In 1995, the presidential candidate at that time, Jacques Chirac, clearly supported sovereingty movement. After the referendum won by the federalists France started to gradually reconcile with the federal government of Canada in various international politics issues such as protection of cultural diversity and multilateralism. France is also worried that in case of Canada's separation, the English speaking rest of the country would get more easily under the influence of the United States of America. France does not intend to admit this scenario. Jacques Chirac during this twelve-year mandate was gradually deepening the cooperation with Ottawa. Nevertheless, Québec remains the privileged partner of France in the fields of culture and education that are key for French foreign policy. Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was even clearly...

Piracy is one of the oldest known illegal activities, and its very existence endangers the international arena due to its lawless nature and ruthless methods. Todays' piracy, particularly prominent in Africa and Asia, has contemporary political and social implications, and is viewed as a new threat to international order. The aim of this thesis is to present piracy as both local and regional issues, and an international problem, and to observe how these two separate perspectives come together. It analyses how modern-day piracy operates, where it thrives, and what are its geopolitical impacts. It also provides a valuable addition to current views on the state of global affairs and geopolitics; by examining international legislative and interventions created to tackle piracy, and by showing that their effectiveness is insufficient. The text argues that the role of states, their sovereignty, and their lack of it are closely connected to piracy, and that the international arena, and contemporary efforts of nations and international organisations to confront piracy are mainly driven by power struggles. It is concluded that piracy is a result of continuous global tensions, thus allowing this crime to exist and expand. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The idea of sovereignty of the people offers a concept which allows searching for legitimacy of power. The legitimacy of power is one of the key structures establishing a relation between those who govern and those who are governed. Whether this relation is accepted, acceptable, functional, desirable or undesirable is a matter of finding the very definition of sovereignty of the people as such. The aim of this doctoral thesis, titled The Concept of Sovereignty of the People and the Political Party System in the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918 - 1938) and in the Czech Republic since 1993, is, firstly, to define the concepts of the people, on one hand, and sovereignty, on the other hand, in the historical, political and legal context from the ancient times up to now while reflecting the role of political parties in relation to the sovereignty of the people. Secondly, this thesis aims at exploring and describing the functioning of the party systems in the interwar Czechoslovakia and in the Czech Republic after 1993. Thirdly, this thesis seeks to answer the following questions: who represents the people in liberal democracies which are based on sovereignty of the people; how do the people exercise their power; and what is the role of the political parties in this process.