CIAO DATE: 04/2013
Volume: 12, Issue: 2
December 2012
Předseda Redakční rady
The French Military Modernization at the End of Nicolas Sarkozy´s Presidency (PDF)
Petr VILÍMEK
This article aims to assess the fulfilment of goals of the White Paper on Defense in the areas of financing of the French Armed Forces and modernization of their equipment under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy. Three indicators for this assessment are defined: the military budget of the French Armed Forces, the acquisition of modern weapon systems and assorted equipment, and extraordinary revenues and expenses of the French defense budget. The article comes to the conclusion that almost from the beginning there were serious difficulties in attaining the projected goals of the White Paper on Defense. In addition, it is concluded that we can expect a reduction of original goals in the course of the ongoing revision of the White Paper on Defense.
On some aspects of the UN SC Mandate Application during the NATO Operation Unified Protector (PDF)
Zdeněk KŘÍŽ
The question of the compliance of the NATO operation Unified Protector with the international law has not become a key topic of scholarly debate yet. The prevailing attitude is such that NATO intervention was in accordance with the international law. Nevertheless, the article argues that NATO in Libya exceeded the UN Security Council mandate. Unified Protector was an operation conducted in the favour of one side, in this case, the rebels. NATO military engagement in Libya very much approached providing air support to Libyan rebelling groups in order to topple the regime. Furthermore, this conclusion is also confirmed by the fact that Western countries had provided military advisors and arms as well.
Conceptualization of UN Peacekeeping as an International Regime (PDF)
Jana URBANOVSKÁ
It is widely recognized that UN peacekeeping operations are an undertheorized topic. In this respect, scholars call to devote more attention to the incorporation of the study of UN peacekeeping operations into the framework of international relations theories. The article responds to these calls and suggests conceptualizing UN peacekeeping as an international regime. Some authors have already referred to UN peacekeeping as an international regime, however, the references have been rather fragmentary and there is no detailed identification of individual dimensions of this regime. The article uses the conception of Stephen Krasner who defines regimes as "principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures around which actors' expectations converge in a given area of international relations" to carefully identify and characterize the dimensions of the UN peacekeeping regime. The conceptualization of UN peacekeeping as an international regime is understood as a first and necessary step to opening new ground to the theoretical study of UN peacekeeping operations within the regime analysis.
Iranian Activities in Afghanistan (PDF)
Josef KRAUS
Afghanistan is still not a stable state with strong central government controlling the whole state territory even after eleven years since American intervention and following the pursuit of reconstruction by allied forces. One of the main causes of this situation consists in interferences of foreign powers, which have their own particular and often mutually incompatible interests in Afghanistan. One of the most important external powers in the country is Iran. Therefore, Iranian involvement in Afghanistan is the main topic of this text. The main goal of this article is to identify and interpret major methods of Iranian enforcement of its plans in Afghanistan and also the characterization of those plans. The important issue of this text is also an understanding of effects of Iranian activities in Afghanistan and whether those actions have positive or rather negative contribution.
The Arab Spring 2011: Retreating Secularization? (PDF)
Jana KOSTROUNOVÁ
The process of revolutionary changes in the North African region in 2011 sparked the flame of hope for change and implementing reforms viewed through the lens of the West. The fall of the dictator and the process of democratic transition in Tunisia as a major commitment to a peaceful future for the whole region and coming closer to the Western-style concept of democracy. How unrealistic has this premise proved to be, it is illustrated by the recent development in Tunisia, Libya, as well as Syria. It is really important to ask, how the requirements and goals of the Arab revolution 2011 reflected into the actual change at the national political scene in various Islamic countries. Isn't the call for democracy inspired by its western model, taking the form of the dictator's subversion, revision of the constitution and observing human rights, particularly the freedom of speech and fighting for the abolition of the censorship, the reason for strengthening the effort of some political Islam groups (such as Salafiyya) to obtain more influence in the society? Can the current sectarian violence in Libya be viewed as a new, slowly coming wave of violence in the name of fighting between different Islamic sects? Does the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's attitude restrain the real reform and transition to a new system in the country? And isn't Tunisia becoming a victim of its own dream of better tomorrow after Ben Ali's fall?
KAZANSKÝ, Rastislav. Bezpečnostná politika – Teória konfliktov
Rudolf KUCHARČÍK
Teória konfliktov a ich charakteristika patria medzi často diskutované otázky v medzinárodných vzťahoch. Solídna analýza problematiky predpokladá oboznámenie sa s množstvom prístupov a ich následnú syntézu do kompaktného a zrozumiteľného celku. Cieľom práce - učebných textov Rastislava Kazanského publikovaných pod názvom Bezpečnostná politika - Teória konfliktov je „základná syntetická teoretická analýza konfliktov, metód využívaných v rámci riešenia konfliktov a spôsobov prevencie vzniku konfliktov." Práca je rozdelená do štyroch obsahových kapitol, ktoré sa postupne venujú vymedzeniu pojmu konflikt, príčinám vzniku konfliktov, riešeniu konfliktov a prevencii vzniku konfliktov v medzinárodných vzťahoch.
Libor FRANK
V roce 2011 vydalo pražské nakladatelství Professional Publishing útlou knížečku s jednoduchým a stručným názvem „Válka". Autorem této subtilní publikace je profesor Oskar Krejčí, který patří v českém odborném prostředí k etablovaným a renomovaným autorům. V současnosti mimo jiné působí na Vysoké škole mezinárodních a veřejných vztahů v Praze a na Univerzitě Mateja Bela v Banské Bystrici. Recenzovaná kniha sice vychází z jeho obsáhlého publikačního díla (je třeba připomenout jeho zásadní kompendium „Mezinárodní politika" či práce věnované národním zájmům nebo geopolitice), avšak tematicky se zaměřuje úžeji a exaktněji na problematiku válek a ozbrojených konfliktů. Publikace byla rozšířena a přepracována ze staršího vydání uveřejněného v roce 2010.
SOULEIMANOV, Emil. Konflikt v Čečensku. Minulost, současnost, perspektivy.
Richard STOJAR
Kniha renomovaného odborníka na problematiku rusko-čečenského konfliktu Emila Souleimanova Konflikt v Čečensku. Minulost, současnost, perspektivy, která v loňském roce vyšla v Sociologickém nakladatelství, není aktuální novinkou, jedná se o přepracovanou verzi autorovy publikace An Endless War: The Russian-Chechen Conflict in Perspective (2007), resp. aktualizované a doplněné vydání české monografie Konflikt v Čečensku (2007). Samotná skutečnost, že během čtyř let tato práce vyšla již ve třetím vydání, svědčí jak o kvalitě textu, tak i o trvalé aktuálnosti tématu. Nejde však o konjunkturální rusofobní spis, což by mohla asociovat předmluva Petry Procházkové, v níž stále rezonuje idealistická představa čečenských horských rytířů, ale o knihu, která podává ucelený pohled na problematiku severního Kavkazu a konfliktů zde probíhajících. Autor se pochopitelně primárně zabývá rusko-čečenským konfliktem, avšak jako komplexním jevem, který se snaží postihnout v širším kontextu politických, společenských i kulturních změn v regionálním kontextu.