scholarly journals CZECH REPUBLIC FOREIGN POLICY: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS

2019 ◽  
pp. 49-57
Author(s):  
K.I Kuznietsova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
World Bank Group ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Moral Universalism ◽  
Bank Group ◽  
The Cold War

In the 1990s the Czech foreign policy objectives were to secure its proper place in international relations after the end of the Cold War, which included the entry of a number of international intergovernmental organizations (IMF, World Bank Group organizations, OECD, EBRD, NATO, EU, etc.) and the development of friendly relations with neighboring states and partners. In this sense, there is no reason to identify the foreign policy of the Czech Republic during this period only as a course aimed at "returning to Europe". In the early 1990's, most Czech political actors shared the idea of "return to the West" and "liberal democracy", the differences in their vision of the models of the geopolitical orientation of the Czech Republic make it possible to distinguish between the interaction of the three main foreign policy ideologies in the process of adopting foreign policy decisions: atlanticism, continentalism, and autonomy. Different interpretations of the essence of "liberal democracy" led to the emergence in the Czech politics of two ideological trends that had a significant impact on the vision of the foreign policy priorities of the Czech Republic: economic universalism (aimed at eliminating institutional barriers to the free flow of goods, services, money), and moral universalism (oriented towards the spread of democracy and the protection of human rights, which is a priority in foreign policy). Followers of economic universalism (primarily V. Klaus) actively advocated the development of economic ties with Russia and China, while the followers of the ideology of moral universalism (V. Havel and his followers) actively opposed it. The article also investigates the influence of foreign policy prejudices on the formation of the foreign policy of the Czech Republic, among which the most influential are anti-Russian and anti-German.

scholarly journals Conflicted Cultural Memory and U.S. Foreign Policy: The “Lost Ca(u)se” of the U.S. Radar Base in the Czech Republic

Ad Americam ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 123-142
Author(s):  
Kryštof Kozák
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Clear Indication ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The U.S

This article analyzes the developments in cultural memory in Czech-U.S. relations since the end of the Cold War with a special emphasis on the heated debate about placing a U.S. radar base on Czech soil in 2008. It first describes the abrupt transformation in cultural memory related to the transition from communist rule from the transatlantic perspective. It claims that the debate about the radar base is a clear indication of the shift within cultural memory, which became much more contested, especially when compared with the previous period culminating with the Czech Republic’s entry into NATO. As cultural memory is closely linked to dominant historical narratives as well as identity, the findings have serious implications for the future of the transatlantic ties in the region.

THE CHALLENGES OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY IN THE GROWTH OF POPULISM: CASE OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

2018 ◽  
pp. 42-48
Author(s):  
O. V. Hryhoriev
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
The Czech Republic

The features of democratic transit in the Czech Republic are analyzed. The defects of Czech democracy are investigated. Compared to the trajectories of the non-liberal turn of the Czech Republic and Hungary and Poland. The main manifestations of deformation of liberal democracy are analyzed. The main threats to liberal democracy in the Czech Republic have been identified.

Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Onderco
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Actual Process ◽  
Iron Curtain ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Forces ◽  
Joint Procurement ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter focuses on defence transformations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary since the end of the cold war. The three lesser powers of Central Europe all eventually joined NATO and the European Union, following the fall of the Iron Curtain. The process they underwent completely transformed their security strategies and military doctrines, but the plans to transform their military forces have developed slowly, and the actual process has been interrupted and incomplete. This chapter addresses the development of civil–military relations, the main milestones in the development of the respective states’ national security policies, and the main changes in the structure of military forces in each of these countries. Finally, the chapter looks at the nascent trends towards military cooperation between the three countries, including military sharing and joint procurement.

scholarly journals Lustration in Europe and Serbia: The motivation for passing the laws on lustration and their social functions

Sociologija ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-306
Author(s):  
Milan Cakic
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Justice ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
Opening Section

The main topic of this article are the motives that led to the adoption of lustration laws in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Serbia, and their social functions. In the opening section, lustration is placed in the wider framework of dealing with the past and two possible approaches to the phenomenon are discussed: to take it as part of the broader process of decommunization, or a measure of transitional justice. In the next section an attempt at defining the concept of lustration is made, with a view to eliminating some ambiguities surrounding it. Subsequently, two partially complementary theoretical models explaining the occurrence, form and severity of dealing with the past and lustration are presented. After that comes the description of the socio-political context at the time of the adoption of lustration laws in the three countries and identification of political and ideological forces that have supported or challenged it. Finally, the article attempts to answer the question whether lustration is a legitimate measure of settling historical justice, overcoming the legacies of socialism, a way to strengthen liberal democracy, or merely a tool in political struggles for power.

It Takes a Village to Implement a Judgment: Creating a Forum for Multi-Stakeholder Involvement in the Czech Republic

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-198
Author(s):  
Vít Alexander Schorm
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
European Court ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Government ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

Abstract In this practice note, the Government Agent of the Czech Republic before the European Court of Human Rights and other international bodies for the protection of human rights reflects on national implementation, with the help of selected examples.

Trump Warsaw visit will widen intra-European rifts

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policy Success ◽  
Russian President ◽  
Arms Exports ◽  
The Eu

Significance Poland is looking to forge closer ties with Washington to establish its leadership in CEE, counterbalance Franco-German dominance of the EU and present a united front against Russia. Other CEE countries are looking elsewhere for allies, as Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to Hungary demonstrates. Impacts Germany and Austria will move to maintain influence in CEE, probably through partnering with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Russia will work to avoid any threat to its natural gas monopoly in CEE, with Bulgaria and Hungary its levers of influence. Trump will point to gas and arms exports to Poland as a US foreign policy success, though US hawks will remain sceptical about Russia.

Twenty Years After

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Šárka Waisová ◽  
Linda Piknerová
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Czech Society ◽  
Rights Issues ◽  
Chamber Of Deputies

However obsolete it may appear in the environment of the post-1989 Czech Republic, dissident activity has left its imprint on Czech society and politics. In Czech foreign policy, there is something like a dissident tradition, which dissidents themselves seem to uphold. In the Czech foreign policy process, there exists an explicit mechanism that has incorporated the dissident tradition, which, in quite a few cases, has affected policy outcomes. The introduction of the dissident tradition into Czech foreign policy was facilitated by the dissidents’ great concern for foreign policy and for human rights issues, and, in particular, for human rights issues outside the Czech Republic. We present evidence that dissidents have been concerned with foreign policy and with human rights issues by analyzing the membership of parliamentary committees of both chambers of the Parliament as well as the dissidents’ activities in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Significantly, when activities tied to the dissident tradition emerge in the Parliament, the initiators of such activities are always (although not exclusively) dissidents; the opponents, always nondissidents.

The rise and fall of the Third Site of Ballistic Missile Defense

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nik Hynek ◽  
Vit Stritecky
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
International Security ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ballistic Missile ◽  
Missile Defense ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Third ◽  
Ballistic Missile Defense ◽  
The Cold War

The present article examines the tumultuous development in the issue of the Third Site (also known as the Third Pillar) of the US Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) that was planned to be hosted by the Czech Republic and Poland. The article analyzes the entire ‘life cycle’ of the project, from its formal proposal in 2007 by the former U.S. President George W. Bush to its cancellation in 2009 by the current U.S. President Barak Obama. Without any doubts, the Third Site of BMD put Poland and the Czech Republic at the centre of international security politics and as such allows one to see how the two post-communist countries acted and reacted to related international positions, expectations and challenges. A detailed analysis of this issue, nevertheless, does not exhaust aims of this article. Whether brief or detailed, any look at the coverage of the issue reveals that the Czech Republic and Poland have invariably been lumped together through the construction of the imagery of the New Europe as a homogeneous political bloc. It will be argued that such a view is flawed and needs refinement. In order to back the claim, the issue of the Third Site is put into a historical context, revealing that the differences between the Czech and Polish international-security preferences and expectations after the end of the Cold War have been quite stable – including the most recent development after the project has been shelved by the United States, and can thus be conceived of in dialectical terms.

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