Ústav mezinárodních vztahů

Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is known as one of the most autocratic countries in the world with alarming gender inequality. However, in June 2018, women were finally given the legal right to drive. Does this, along with the other social reforms put forward by the Crown Prince, suggest times are changing for the better and the Saudi society is on its way to modernity and gender equality?

Gender and NATO
Gender and NATO: How NATO deals with gender equality issues and the prospective changes after NATO summit Over the past decade, gender has become an institutional part of NATO through the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325). The adoption of this resolution has led to many important reforms within NATO in terms of the structure of the offices and military operations, as well as external reforms such as the shift towards a more open attitude regarding the adoption of gender perspectives into everyday practices. However, discussions such as the one held at the IIR with H.E. Kerry Buck, LTC Magdalena Dvořáková, and Researcher Míla O’Sullivan are still crucial in facilitating a more in-depth understanding of these practices. These experts each have a different professional background, but together they provided a fruitful conversation about the position of gender within NATO, and the work that still needs to be done.

Agonism in IR: a defense of ‘the political’
Democracy is constructed by a multiplicity of power relations based in conflictual practices.The always possibility of the rise of antagonistic attitudes poses a threat to democracies, as well as to the international sphere. Agonistic theories defend the need to embrace ‘agonism’ in order to overcome these contemporary challenges. Is this approach useful in an IR level?

Trump’s Folly and the Call to Europe
Mezinárodní Politika has established cooperation with the Peace Research Center Prague, a newly-established interdisciplinary center of excellence at the Charles University, with focus on prevention, management, and transformation of conflicts in world politics. This article is part of the policy brief series published by the PRCP and Mezinárodní Politika. For more information, visit http://prcprague.cz

The Italian Elections and the Debate on the Future of Europe
Italian politics is anything but simple. It is worldwide famous for its instability, and for the difficulties its political elites has experienced, in the past few years, in tackling the multiple European crises: the economic, the financial and, last but not least, the migrant one.

PyeongChang OG: An Opening for a “Moon-shine” Policy?
Whether one believes that the impulse was the series of ballistic missile tests or Donald Trump’s assumption of the US presidency with its reintroduction of the “axis of evil” doctrine, the reality is that the breaking news of the World media channels have recently revolved around yet another ‘nuclear crisis’ on the Korean Peninsula.

NATO: Towards a new Strategic Concept
The new threats and challenges the Euro-Atlantic area is facing pose the question of whether it is the right moment for a new Strategic Concept to be developed.

USA x DPRK :The Greatest International Issue?
As 2017 comes to a close, tensions with North Korea are at their highest. On November 29th the pariah state launched its latest missile in a weapons test, the 23rd launched since February and the 89th launched since Kim Jong Un came to power in late 2011. As a response to the November 29th launch, the UN Security Council approved tougher sanctions in an attempt to decrease North Korea’s foreign cash flow, at the encouragement of President Donald Trump. This action provoked a hostile response from the regime; they claimed the new sanctions constituted an ‘act of war’ and they reiterated that North Korea will never give up their nuclear arsenal.

Rusko-běloruské manévry Západ 2017: obavy trvají
Vztahy mezi Ruskem a Západem poklesly na nejnižší bod od konce studené války poté, co Moskva na jaře 2014 anektovala ukrajinský poloostrov Krym. Právě absence informací o nadcházejícím ruském cvičení vytváří prostor pro nejrůznější spekulace a situaci navíc komplikuje atmosféra vzájemné nedůvěry. NATO vyzvalo Rusko, aby sdílelo informace o svých cvičeních a operacích v jeho okolí a jasně sdělilo své záměry.

Zahraniční politika a migrace – od stereotypů k realitě
V rámci politické diskuze je migrace často chápána jako výzva, nebo dokonce hrozba pro země Evropské unie. Ne všechny informace, které se ve veřejném diskurzu objevují, jsou však fakticky správné. Některá tvrzení představitelů české zahraniční politiky týkající se migrace bývají často v rozporu s dostupnými informacemi a nejnovějšími výzkumy o mezinárodní migraci.