This diploma thesis deals with the rise of China in the context of its behavior in the South China Sea over the past decade. The significant economic growth of the People's Republic of China over the last few decades is expected to affect not only the regional balance of powers, but also its position within the international system. There is a wide-ranging debate in academia about how China will grow and how it will affect the international community. As a reaction, in order to explain its growth, China has introduced the concept of "peaceful development", according to which its growth should be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat to the international community. An offensive realism approach was chosen for this work and the ideas of its main advocate John Mearsheimer will be applied to the specific behavior of China in the region. The role of the United States, which influences China's behavior, will also be discussed. The diploma thesis will further deal with the increased Chinese assertiveness in the area of South China Sea and the means it uses in it to enforce its claims. The basic aim of this work is to underscore the contrast between the declared official policy of China and its actual behavior.

This thesis deals with differences between individual states of the United States from the demographic point of view, and searches for causes of these differences. United States are composed of several disparate areas, which are different from each other in their location, size, number and composition of the population, and historical evolution. All this affects the demographic characteristics of those territorial units. Probably the main cause of differentiation of individual states is racial composition, since the intensity of demographic events is specific to each race or ethnicity. The states differ in levels of fertility, mortality, marriage or education. To confirm these assumptions, the statistical method canonical correlation was used. Using cluster analysis has revealed that there are groups of states that have similar demographic profile. Most notably, it shows the influence of ethnic and racial composition in the south of the United States, where the highest proportion of populations is composed by black race and hispanic origin. The differentiation of levels of infant mortality and life expectancy are mainly influenced. Key words: United States of America, race, ethnicity, black population, hispanic population, total fertility rate, life expectancy, canonical correlation, cluster analysis

The subject of this diploma thesis is the topic of Poland-United States bilateral relations, the form of which results, among other things, from the geographical location and historical experience of Poland. This bilateral cooperation has a major impact on events in the region, making it a very relevant topic to explore in the light of current developments on the international scene. The work is conducted in the form of a case study and its purpose is to analyse the dynamics of Poland-United States cooperation, while the basic premise of the research is the asymmetric form of Polish-U.S. bilateral relations. The aim is to point out that relations between Warsaw and Washington are, by their development and current form, based on consensus rather than coercion from the position of a stronger partner. Glenn H. Snyder's alliance security dilemma is used in this work to analyse the dynamics, too. Due to the conceptualization of strategic culture as a context of strategic behaviour, the work also provides a relatively detailed insight into Polish strategic culture, which serves as a tool for better understanding of Polish foreign policy, security priorities and thus motivation to maintain significant relations with the United States. It is precisely the form of these relations that opens the opportunity...

The aim of this diploma thesis is characterization and evaluation of programs and projects, which are proceeding in United States of America to support children's reading skills. The first part is devoted to reading to children from birth to six years, impact of books to children, and to factors, which are influencing the beginning of reading. In other chapters are presented projects of American Library Association and its division Association for Library Services to Children. In the following, the programs of selected libraries and non-profit organization are mentioned (for example Mother Goose on the Loose, Birth to six or Reach out and Read). In the last part is described the situation in Czech Republic. There are presented projects like Celé Česko čte dětem, Rosteme s knihou, Poprvé do školy - Poprvé do knihovny, and also cooperation of libraries and kindergartens.

JAPPEL,
Ctibor.
Energy
Security
of
the
United
States
of
America.
Praha,
2012.
74
s.
 Diplomová
práce
(Mgr.),
Univerzita
Karlova,
Fakulta
sociálních
věd,
 Institut
mezinárodních
studií.
Katedra
amerických
studií.
 Vedoucí
diplomové
práce
PhDr.
et
Mgr.
Kryštof
Kozák,
Ph.
D.

 
 
 Abstract
 The
thesis
deals
with
the
energy
security
of
the
United
States
of
America
at
the
 beginning
 of
 the
 21st
 century.
 The
 first
 part
 of
 the
 thesis
 identifies
 energy
 security
as
a
relatively
new
concept
in
political
discourse,
whose
meaning
is
not
 yet
 firmly
 defined.
 The
 goal
 of
 this
 part
 is
 therefore
 to
 refine
 the
 definition
 of
energy
security
using
an
analysis
of
the
content
of
relevant
academic
sources.
 The
 second
 part
 of
 the
 thesis
 focuses
 specifically
 on
 the
 situation
 of
 the
 United
 States
 of
 America.
 It
 identifies
 the
 challenges
 to
 energy
 security
 the
 country
faces,
mainly
the
high
level
of
dependence
on
petroleum
products,
and
 provides
an
overview
of
available
solutions.
 The
 third
 part
 is
 a
 case
 study
 that
 deals
 with
 the
 presidential
 election
 campaign
of
2008.
This
campaign
took
place
during
a
period
of
extremely
high
 energy
prices,
and
the
energy
security
proposals
made
by
the
major
candidates
...

Diploma thesis "Neoclassical Realism and the Dynamics of Power in Eastern Asia: U.S. Foreign Policy toward China" is testing specific theoretical propositions of neoclassical realism on the evolution of U.S. foreign policy toward China from 1950 until present. This single case study uses congruence method and process-tracing to test the effect of intervening variables on the foreign policy deviation from neorealist proposition. Paper assesses theoretical progressivity of neoclassical realism and on this basis analyzes possible future evolution of Sino-American relations and in similar fashion presents suggestions to effective U.S. foreign policy.

This diploma thesis deals with the application of the information literacy concept in the healthcare, focusing on patients' information literacy development. Firstly, the Czech and U. S. model of health care system are briefly introduced with regard to their different impact on patiets' active participation in health care. Subsequently, preconditions for the emergence and development of the concept of health information literacy are described with emphasis on the terminology. The core of the thesis is focused on the description, analysis, and evaluation of selected activities of U. S. professional associations and organisations. The last part is aimed at selection of the appropriate activity for implementation in the Czech context and at the survey in the selected Czech professional libraries, which is oriented at the state of activities for information literacy development and implementation of selected activity.

Iranian nuclear program has presented a problem for many years. Even though the regime in Tehran has not formally announced its quest to develop nuclear weapons and has actually denied such accusations, the international community concluded from the actions of the regime that the development of nuclear weapons is the ultimate goal of Tehran. The United States reacted to the course of events and tried to limit the program or stop it altogether. The Bush Administration was not an exception in this regard. Even though the attitude towards Iran changed during 2001 - 2009, the nuclear program progressed further and still presents a great danger. Not only politicians but also academics, experts and analytics were trying to answer the question how to curb the program most effectively. This thesis analyzes and compares concepts of scholars with the actual policy practiced by the Bush Administration and finds out that both approaches vary quite significantly. While the majority of scholars recommended the administration to limit the economic sanctions and refrain from aggressive rhetoric concerning the possibility of military action, the American government tightened the sanctions and sustained the option of intervention. Since Iran still continues with its nuclear program, it can be asserted that the...

American Foreign Policy towards Iran: 2006-2010 author: Daniel Soukop date: 16 May 2013 Abstract In the long term, relations between the United States and Iran can be painted as complicated, tense and hostile. This diploma thesis analyzes the American foreign policy towards Iran between 2006 and 2010. This time period was essential for American-Iranian relations for several reasons. First, the American rhetoric towards Iran got significantly intense during the George W. Bush administration. It started with the Bush's "Axis of Evil" and peaked with the National Security Strategy of 2006, according to which the United States were aiming at a complete change of Iranian internal and external behavior, and were ready to use all means necessary to achieve this ultimate objective. The highest Iranian leaders consequently gave in to paranoia and under the fear of losing their own power brought Iran into an even more defensive position, although the United States needed the direct opposite. Second, in February 2006, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) handed over the issue regarding the Iranian nuclear program to the UN Security Council. Thereby the United States got an opportunity to push for multilateral sanctions on Iran. Third, at the beginning of 2009, the United States awaited the change of...

The thesis analyzes selected issues in the U.S. criminal justice system, and the solutions proposed by American libertarians. First, it introduces libertarianism as a whole, based on both contemporary and historical sources. The thesis then examines the real influence of libertarians on U.S. politics, and the possibility that libertarian proposals might be adopted. It analyzes the successes of the U.S. Libertarian Party and introduces movement and factions in the two major parties, Republican and Democratic, and today's influential politicians who at least partially promote libertarian proposals. In the final, pivotal chapter, the thesis uses the theoretical base provided in the first chapter to analyze the shortcomings of the U.S. criminal justice system, and the solutions and changes that libertarians propose. The structure of this analysis follows the generally accepted structure of the system itself, dealing with criminal law and its enforcement through policing, courts and corrections. On each of these levels, the thesis introduces both the libertarian critique of today's system and examples of specific issues and proposed solutions. The thesis identifies the so-called "War on Drugs" as one of the key points of the libertarian critique, and uses is as a case study which illustrates the impact of...