Ústav mezinárodních vztahů

Karabakh’s Twenty Years Crisis: The EU Should Do More
Twenty years have passed since an armistice in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict was concluded. EU can and should do more to facilitate its resolution. The Union’s security interests are at stake (energy), and it can use the hitherto neglected conflict to boost credibility of its foreign and security policy (CFSP) in the context of the Ukraine crisis which additionally makes the conflict parties (Armenia, Azerbaijan) uneasy of Russia’s intentions, a fact that the EU can use to its advantage. The EU can notably mobilize its comprehensive approach to address the conflict, promote a conciliatory narrative of history and future of peaceful coexistence, and declare readiness to assume peacekeeping tasks under the CSDP.

ABM Defense & Prospects of a New Russia-us ‘Reset’
The Obama administration recently suggested concluding a legally binding agreement on transparency that would confirm that American BMD does not pose a threat to Russia’s deterrence forces, and also concludinga framework agreement on further cutting Russian and American nuclear arsenals. The USA may be interested in reducing the tensions with Russia over the missile defense with a view to break the deadlock on a wide complexof hard security and proliferation issues, including the hot problems of nonstrategic nuclear weapons in Europe and Iran and the North Korean nuclear programs, and also to ensure Russia’s support in managing regionalcrises – these days, especially that in Syria. Moscow probably agrees that it should negotiate a legally binding agreement on transparency and confidence building measures with the USA. At the same time Russia continues in asking for legally binding guaranteesthat the US BMD is not aimed against its strategic forces as the sine qua none of any other talks and agreements on nuclear weapons with the US. The Kremlin also may propose some trilateral consultations between the USA, Russia, and Europe on BMD with a view to involve some European circles that are skeptical about the missile defense in the debate.

To Catch a Fogle
The Putin regime seems to have chosen to publicly expose Ryan Fogle not simply as a “tit-for-tat” for the embarrasing release of footage by the FBI of the meetings of “illegals” detained in the U.S. (2010) with Russian diplomats, but to gesture toward domestic audiences and to humiliate the U.S. in order to weaken its position in mutual negotiations, knowing that Washington may not be in the position to retaliate.For the EU, the episode is a reminder that even in the age of cyber threats the conventional spy war is far from over.

Liberalizace vnitřního trhu s elektřinou a plynem
Policy paper je upravenou verzí kapitoly k publikaci o formování společné energetické politiky EU. Jeho hlavním cílem je posoudit důležitost liberalizace vnitřního trhu s elektřinou a plynem v energetické bezpečnosti a politice EU a zkoumat aplikaci těchto unijních opatření v energetické oblasti v České republice.

Jak dál v jaderném odzbrojování?
Policy paper upozorňuje na možnost zpomalení jaderně-odzbrojovacího procesu, rozebírá hlavní důvody tohoto vývoje z hlediska řešení některých kontroverzních otázek a připomíná nutnost zvýšené aktivity nejaderných států k dosažení vize světa bez jaderných zbraní.

Future Perspectives of U.S.-Czech Relations
In the area of security, the Czech Republic and the U.S. should build closer cooperation around President Obama’s Prague Agenda, NATO Ballistic Missile Defence project and in the field of post-conflict reconstruction while working together to mitigate obstacles to constructive NATO-EU relations.

Diplomacy: European and Global Challenges
Policy paper "The Future of Diplomacy: European and Global Challenges". As identified by the participants of the 1st Czech-French Forum of Young Talents, diplomacy needs to face globalization, geopolitical shifts, the call for transparency and budgetary restrictions. The diplomat has to act as a manager and interpreter of knowledge in a world characterized by an overflow of information.

Německo a Lisabonská smlouva
Policy paper "Spolková republika a Lisabonská smlouva (LS): nové mantinely německé integrační politiky?" Spolková republika Nemecko zustává klícovým pro-integracním aktérem, jehož zájmy i identita jsou tesne spojeny s existencí a dalším rozvojem EU. V nemecké integracní politice ale prevládá pragmatický prístup, soustredení na politiku malých kroku, bezprostrední zájmový horizont a realistickou kalkulaci rizik, zisku a ztrát.

Evaluating the Multilateral Framework of the Eastern Partnership
Ever since the launch of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in Prague in May 2009, its added value to the European Neighbourhood Policy has been hotly discussed. Some analysts claim that the EaP has been so successful that it has virtually eclipsed the ENP and that the EaP´s arrival heralds a final farewell to a unified approach to Eastern and Southern neighbour countries. Others take the opposite stance and argue that the EaP does not present a qualitatively new situation in the EU´s relations with its neighbourhood and that the ENP remains the main vehicle for EU´s neighbourhood policy.

Continuity and Change in the U.S. Foreign Policy
The question of continuity and change in the U.S. Foreign/Security Policy (henceforth USFSP) after the accession of President Obama can be constructively studied from two complementary perspectives: the thematic perspective and the procedural perspective.