This study deals with the current demographic situation of the Russian Far East and tries to assess the main patterns of migration in the region. The work is structured in five chapters. The first chapter aims at defining the Russian Far East geographically and concentrates on the most important features of its economy. The second chapter is devoted to region's rapid depopulation since the beginning of 1990s. This part analyses the dominant demographic trends within the district and tries to describe the prevalent patterns of migration on its territory. The third chapter presents a brief historical overview of the colonization and resettlement policies towards the Russian Far East. The main goal of this part is to evaluate the overall effectivity of both tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union in their efforts to populate their easternmost periphery and secure the border with China. The fourth chapter deals with the problem of Chinese migration to the Russian Far East. The emphasis is put on the myth of China's "demographic expansion" and also on the question of possible benefits of drawing in more Chinese workforce in the foreseeable future. The last chapter analyses the current state program designed to attract large numbers of ethnic Russians from abroad and settle them in regions considered as...

The conflict over the right way to tackle the so-called refugee crisis in Europe has proved that relations between the EU and the Visegrád Group have changed. The political dispute surfaced most clearly regarding the different proposals for a quota-based refugee relocation system - a decision which was refused by the V4. The bloc consisting of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia first articulated its common position on migration in September 2015 and several times afterwards. On the basis of these statements, one can summarise their approach as follows: (1) Protecting the external borders of the EU and underlining the importance of fulfilling the obligations for the EU acquis; (2) Effective management of the root causes of migration flows, which could help reduce the number of migrants; (3) Refusing Germany's open-door migration policy. Although an increasing number of EU member states share a similar approach, the V4 as the whole started to be perceived as a coalition known for obstructing practices. The split on the issue gave life to a new wave of speculation about the increasing split between "old" and "new" Europe and the possible shift of the later eastwards. Furious politicians and public opinion in Western Europe continued to remind the Visegrád countries of their lack of...

The intention of this doctoral thesis is to present a comprehensive account of the evolution of the way sex and sexuality are portrayed in modern Arabic novel and put it in the context of given era, culture and religion. On a selected sample of 30 novels printed between 1934 and 2009 we can trace clear evolution of the central themes, all of which are constantly present throughout the hundred-years-existence of modern Arabic novel. For the sake of greater comprehensibility the thesis is split in two big parts, i.e. female and male sexuality, and further arranged into thematic subchapters all of which discuss specific issues related either to male or female sexuality. Furthermore, individual chapters deal with the topic in general, put it in proper cultural-religious framework and fill in all available historical and statistical data. Next comes the part dedicated to analysis of selected novels portraying sex a sexuality with excerpts translated directly from primary sources. Aside from peculiar themes typical for Arabic culture such as honor, virginity and related issue of honor killings this thesis discusses the way modern Arabic novels deals with both female and male homosexuality, discovering one's body and masturbation, abortion, sexual violence, impotence, infertility and prostitution. Also it...

The diploma thesis deals with the rise of Turkey as a regional power in the Middle East since the end of the Cold War until the present. The aim of the thesis is to analyze the country's position in the region during the period 1990-2017 and to examine factors that contributed to the growth of Turkey's power. The thoretical framework discusses important concepts and different approaches within the international relations literature to the analysis of regional powers and subsequently defines criteria for assessing whether to consider Turkey as a Middle Eastern power. The study follows chronological evolution of Turkey and its foreign policy, examining the country's material capacities as well as strategies and instruments used by Turkish governments to promote Turkey's influence at the regional level. In view of the growing power potential, ambitions and engagement in the region, the thesis has come to the conclusion that Turkey has achieved the status of one of the regional powers of the Middle East during the 1990s. The end of the bipolar international system was a factor that allowed Turkey to act more independently in the new global order. Subsequently, thanks to Turkey's economic growth, the Turkish leadership could increase the volume of funds spent on active foreign policy and thus strengthen...

The main aim of this master thesis is analyze role of UNRWA in the Middle East in 1950- 2010 based on the collected data. The main focus is on the population growth tendencies which are often criticized as the result of the UNRWA politics and which might be prolonging the conflict in the area. Second part of this thesis focuses on the elementary and preparatory education at UNRWA schools. Based on the research done, it was concluded that UNRWA isn't responsible of Palestinian refugee growth as it is the result of population growth in region and the result of foreign events. In question of elementary and preparatory education, the decreasing percentage tendencies in attendance at UNRWA run schools have been observed despite multiplication of the refugee population. This might be a result of failing to accommodate to the needs of Palestinian refugees.

In the years following World War II, Iran became one of the closest allies of United States of America in the Middle East. The era of friendship was replaced by hostilities and mutual mistrust after the 1979 Iranian revolution. In order to understand the current situation the analysis of American foreign policy towards Iran during the reign of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi has been done. The author of the thesis The Making of a Special Relationship: Iran in the Foreign Policy of the United States, 1953 - 1979 questions what kind of policy the United States adopted towards Iran that inevitably led to such dramatic end? What kind of rule Washington pursued towards Tehran that Revolution arose with anti-American spirit? The research has been performed in a constructivist framework. American foreign policy with its specific values, norms, beliefs, culture and language towards other states creates, according to constructivist scholars, three different types of rule: hegemony, hierarchy and heteronomy. The analysis of U.S. foreign policy and declassified primary documents showed that U.S.-Iranian relations operated in heteronomic structures. United States created rules that determined Iran to be dependent on it. The country under Shah's rule became more developed and powerful, but not independent. Thanks to...

Diploma thesis "From evil Turk to comrades and back" deals with the ability to use power to overlay one dominant discourse by the another. In our case local orientalist discourse by the new communist one. We have analysed media representations of selected Middle Eastern countries and people living there, published in broadsheet Pravda in two different periods - in 1984 and after 2014. We have analysed more than 50 articles from 1984, and 160 titles, photos and introductions published after 2014. Communist discourse dominated in the 80's Pravda newspaper, accompanied with relevant framing, stereotypes and binary opposites. But this shift was only temporal, and nowadays Pravda shows a comeback to orientalism as defined by Edward Said and others, as well as being present in Slovak folk and art literature for a long time before. Media shifted the narrative from the evil Turk to vicious American, while Islam and "us" vs. "them" division was made irrelevant. On the other hand, class divides were put into the spotlight, with the political left being unifying international element spanning the globe. 30 years later Pravda operates with typical orientalistic framing again - Islam, oriental tyrrany, irrationality or religious bigotry and fanaticism. We have also, as collateral result of the analysis, found...

ŠPITÁLKA CONCEPT Urban design of Špitálka is trying to create a new residential neighborhood near the center. The combination of old residential and multifunctional buildings is logically complemented by a new one. New residential units replace the post-industrial parts of the emerging brownfield. This does not mean, however, an extensive rehabilitation of the historical building structure. Every object is thoroughly analyzed, considered for its new fulfillment. The basics are connections between old and new buildings. Keeping the high-rise building and many historic buildings creates a prerequisite for preserving Genia loci of that place to the fullest extent possible. At the same time, with new interventions, it is meaningfully and functionally clarified, logically linked, creating new specifications and qualities of space for a good living in the city. It is also about improving the cycling and pedestrian traffic to the city center, street views of Brno's dominant landmarks (Petrov, Kostel sv.), enlarging of the uncomfortably narrow Cejl street, or cultivating the public space with greenery (alleyways, parking lots, parks, . Individual urban blocks offer variable options for typological solutions. The place has the ambition to create a diverse residential neighborhood for private owners, tenants, social and cooperative housing. The goal is not to create formal gestures, but to adequately supplement and sensitively replace the broken parts of the neighborhood.

The effects of climate change and global warming and the conversations surrounding it are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The future predictions of the impact of climate change on the planet present daunting challenges for people around the globe, especially for the Mediterranean littoral, which has been labeled as a climate "hot spot". The paper focuses on the effects of climate change on migration patterns in the Mediterranean region to understand what a warmer future in the Mediterranean may look like to develop policies and strategies that may mitigate some of the more negative outcomes. The paper's main objective is to answer the following question; what are the links between migration patterns and climate change in the Mediterranean region? To the question, it is important to first define and place the theoretical framework firmly in the context that the paper is covering, such as the political, economic, social, environmental and demographic factors. Once these factors are defined, they are applied to real-world case studies in the form of North Africa and Syria through Black, Adger, et al.'s framework of drivers of migration through qualitative and quantitative data that comes from secondary resources. After analysing and comparing the two case studies the results showed that...

This work deals with a theme, which is increasingly becoming popular amongst scholars. It is a theme dealing with Russian pilgrims and travellers, who visited the areas of the Middle East, especially those places, such as Constantinople, the Holy Land, Mt. Athos and others. Under the designation Russian pilgrims we do not mean individuals belonging to a specific ethnic group, but individuals who were related to Russia understood as a political formation and state. The contacts between the south and Russia, have important consequences for the development of Russia itself, its culture, identity and history. This is also the case for the Middle East, where the contacts with Russia determined to a large extent the development and character of this area. The Russian contacts with the south should be primarily viewed in terms of the Byzantine-Russian context. These were based on cultural influences and on a shared faith and identity. The cultural and religious contacts were enabled by travelling individuals, who travelled without and with a specific goal. In the context of these journeys the prime motivation was a religious one, when a pilgrimage to such areas as Constantinople, Mt. Athos, the Holy Land, helped to build a religious identity in Russia, since before the fall of Constantinople, religion...