The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a proposed comprehensive trade and investment agreement between the European Union and the United States of America. This Master's thesis applies Robert D. Putnam's Two-Level Game Theory to the TTIP negotiations, as well as analyses the activities and influence of various stakeholders and factors within the EU and USA that have put pressure on the chief international negotiators and contributed to the freeze of the TTIP negotiations process. This thesis reveals that the anti-TTIP arguments of the second-level stakeholders in the European Union and United States differed. The European stakeholders opposed to TTIP because they thought that it would harm EU's relatively higher standards; consumer safety; environment; and agricultural market. They also claimed that TTIP's negotiations process was non-transparent, and they protested against the inclusion of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement Mechanism (ISDS). Their anti-TTIP campaigning was also supported by the presence of anti-American sentiments in the EU. In the USA, the main barriers to TTIP negotiations started with decision of the Congress to grant President Barack Obama the so called Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), because it is frequently designated as unconstitutional and...

The realm of trust has of late become the subject of a new agenda of research. Withal, as this paper demonstrates, trust has always implicitly been at the core of international relations theory. The object of the research is the transatlantic relationship and the role that trust plays on the field of security, using NATO as the platform. In this connection, at first, the author considers the category of trust in international relations as a whole. A detailed analysis of the phenomenon of trust, its principles and distinctive signs will be conducted. For the further application of the theoretical findings to the case of transatlantic relations, special methodology as exploratory research is elaborated. It develops a multiframework strategy for recognizing signals of trust in a relationship, emphasizing the role of the security dilemma, hedging strategies and reassurance in this manner. The selected research methods are determined by the theoretical basis and the available data for the research. Taking stock of the history of transatlantic relations on the basis of researching literature and using the research findings of the case study, the author estimates the level of trust between the United States and European NATO members during periods of turmoil. The aim is to reveal the causes of such state of...

in English This thesis deals with the factors that influence changing intensity of bilateral economic cooperation between EU and USA in the period between 2002 and 2012. The quantitative tests by correlation are made separately for the trade and the financial area of cooperation. The first tested factor was the economic interdependence of EU and USA, which is based on liberal thoughts in international relations. Its positive influence on cooperation that was assumed for this factor was confirmed only in case of the financial area. On the other hand, for the trade sphere the premise was disproved. The second tested factor was formulated based on realism in international relations. It says that decreasing economic standing of EU and USA leads to their increased cooperation. This influence was confirmed both for trade and financial cooperation. The last researched factor was the annual change in the volume of transactions. This factor is based on functionalism, neofunctionalism and communication theory. The assumed positive influence of increased transactions on cooperation was confirmed only in trade dimension. The best factor that can explain the changing bilateral economic cooperation of EU and USA between 2002 and 2012 proved to be the one based on realism - the declining standing of both subjects...

It is possible that the economic condition of Europe after the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 prompted idea of trade liberalization. This diploma thesis deals with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States of America. Main goal of the thesis is to provide economic evaluation of the deal, and to assess the claim that TTIP would be beneficial for the European Union member states. Main used method is a theoretical analysis supplemented by regression analysis. The theoretical part is focused on basic economic principles of international trade and related concepts. Main tools used to assess this agreement are described in more detail as well. The analytical part deals with economic linkages between the two regions, with emphasis on the development and current status of non-tariff barriers to trade. The thesis also contains a summary of potential benefits and risks. Finally, a potential impact of TTIP on the Czech Republic and the issue of Brexit is presented. The European Union and the United States of America are linked by strong economic ties. However, trade barriers between those two entities still exist and hamper international trade. The analysis indicates that if the contract was to be impactful and significant, it must focus on a substantial reduction of bilateral non-tariff barriers to trade. This implies that TTIP could interfere with sectoral regulations. In addition, it is not certain that achieved revenues would be automatically higher than costs given the number of perceived risks. Panel data gravity models are used to quantify the potential impact of trade liberalization on export of goods of the EU28 countries to the USA. Significant elimination of trade barriers could increase EU exports to the USA by more than 20%.

The thesis deals with transnational islamist terrorism and with the policy of the European Union (EU) and the United States (U.S.) in countering the threat. It is assumed that it is the EU's policy that is more relevant given the recent evolution of the threat. The assumption is subsequently tested throughout the paper. In the opening part, the focus is on the international, or transnational, islamist terrorism, in particular its root causes, ideological background and organizational forms. Second chapter is devoted to the EU's counterterrorism policy, first from the institutional point of view, as that has obvious implications for the formulation and implementation of policy. Then, the prevailing perceptions of terrorism, basic tenets of strategy and some concrete measures are analyzed. The chapter dealing with the U.S. policy is structured analogously, even if the institutional aspects are omitted due to the obvious absence of EU-specific problems. Chapter four provides a comparison of both actors' policies, followed up by the fifth, final, chapter, with some concluding remarks. Most importantly, the initial assumption is assessed as valid, i.e., the European Union counterterrorism policy is found to be more relevant than that of the United States.

The goal of this thesis is to examine president Bush's policy after 9/11 and its implications for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The shock of 9/11 attacks resulted in "war mentality" manifesting itself in the pressure of the public and media for swift radical actions. This resulted in ad hoc decisions taken without proper analyses and consideration of consequences. After 9/11, Bush Administration used black-and-white rhetoric and simplified the war on terror into war between good and evil. The U.S. under Bush did not consider international institutions to play significant role in international politics and preferred bilateral cooperation. By omitting the Alliance, Washing, however, undermined NATO. Europe was sympathetic to the U.S. and proclaimed its support for Washington since day one but European NATO members and the U.S. had different threat perception regarding Iraq, and could not agree on a common solution. The actions taken by Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq and the reluctance of European allies in supporting the U.S. war against terrorism resulted in escalation of relations in the Alliance. As the U.S. headed toward engagement in two conflicts, it increasingly appreciated the value of NATO. On the other hand, Europe never forgot that the United States is its main ally. Most...

NATO's enlargement policy has been opposed by Russia. The disagreements over Georgia's pro Ronald Asmus "a little war that shook the world". concept of 'NATO Georgia relations' within the theoretical framework of leading IR approaches in 'pillars' of NATO Georgia relations) each perceive the Atlantic Alliance's enlargement and approaches are best theorized separately since all three nations " ". The thesis contributes an alternative theoretical explanation behind Georgia's -

American policy towards European integration process has always seemed equivocal: on one hand it actively supported and encouraged the process, but on the other hand it tried to contain some specific European ambitions and steer the process in a desirable direction. The objective of the thesis is to offer a possible explanation of the long-term US policy towards the European integration and European region in general. The dissertation presents a hypothesis that the American policy towards Europe since the Second World War until current times can be explained within the theorethical concept of "regional hegemony strategy". The concept builds on neorealist and neoliberal interpretations of hegemony, which are applied to the process of formulation of American grand strategy. It identifies a set of independent variables effecting the resulting strategy and operationalizes the expected strategy into particular goals. The empirical part of the dissertation then tests the established hyphothesis in two ways. In the first part it analyzes the identified independent variables and tests the causality betwen their historical evolution and evolution of the American grand strategy, especially in relation to the European region. In the consequent parts, it focuses on the American policy towards the European integration...

CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies Department of Geopolitical Studies Master's Thesis Unconventional power of small states: a comparative case study of Lithuania and Taiwan (ROC) Abstract: The hypotheses of the leading international relations theories, especially realism, face fundamental criticism for not explaining the behavior of some small states, who lack material power but play an effective and influential role in the international arena. To fill in this oversight, the contemporary discourse of small states challenges the resource-based understandings of power and seeks new avenues to explain how some small states succeed in "punching above their weight." Most recently, Dr. Tom Long (2017) synthesized previous academic researches and proposed that the small state's power can be best understood as originating in three categories: derivative, collective, and particular-intrinsic. This thesis aims to contribute to the argument that small states can possess unconventional power to advance their influence and achieve their national interests. It uses Dr. Tom Long's three categories of unconventional power, as a basis for the comparative case study of Taiwan and Lithuania - two small states that have notoriously challenge the notion of "how a small state should...