Šárka Waisová – författare

The book focuses on the description and analysis of the historical formation of the Czechoslovak and Czech positions in the international system during the course of the 20th century. The first part of the book presents a brief outline of the history of Czechoslovak foreign policy between the First World War and the end of the Cold War. The authors focus on the key periods and turning points in the role of the small Central European state in the international system as well as on the significant actors formulating Czechoslovak foreign policy from the inside and influencing it from the outside. The second, analytical part of the book focuses on the key issues connected to the change of the position of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic after 1993 in world politics, and on the formulation of Czech foreign policy priorities and strategies in the globalized world after the end of bipolar confrontation. The authors analytically investigate the activities of the Czech Republic in (Central) European regional integration processes and the integration of the state in the global system of development cooperation. A great deal of attention is paid to the key political actors of the Czech foreign policy discussion and their impact on the formulation of foreign policy goals. Special attention is paid to the dilemmas of Czech foreign policy: the hesitation between the role of a small state and a medium power and also the span of Czech foreign policy between Atlanticism, anti-Americanism and Europeanization.

Despite the instability of the political relationship between Taiwan and Mainland China, cross-strait activities such as trade, education, marriage and travel have prospered. While the main focus of current academic research has been on security and economic relationships between the two governments, relatively little attention has been paid to social interactions or the role of civil society actors. This book investigates the role of Taiwanese civil society organizations in shaping the relationship between Mainland China and Taiwan. It explores the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in building confidence and peace and shows that Taiwanese CSOs hold a very complicated position which has in fact added to tensions. Waisová’s research looks closely at the roles civil society organizations play in conflict transformation, reconciliation and peacebuilding, the modalities of playing such roles, and the challenges facing them. It will be of interest to students and scholars researching cross-strait relations and also to conflict resolution think-tanks, policy makers and policy analysts.

Despite the instability of the political relationship between Taiwan and Mainland China, cross-strait activities such as trade, education, marriage and travel have prospered. While the main focus of current academic research has been on security and economic relationships between the two governments, relatively little attention has been paid to social interactions or the role of civil society actors. This book investigates the role of Taiwanese civil society organizations in shaping the relationship between Mainland China and Taiwan. It explores the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in building confidence and peace and shows that Taiwanese CSOs hold a very complicated position which has in fact added to tensions. Waisová’s research looks closely at the roles civil society organizations play in conflict transformation, reconciliation and peacebuilding, the modalities of playing such roles, and the challenges facing them. It will be of interest to students and scholars researching cross-strait relations and also to conflict resolution think-tanks, policy makers and policy analysts.

Environmentalists and advocates of environmental cooperation in conflict frequently discuss certain environmental cooperation project proposals such as the establishment of the Peace Park in the demilitarized zone on the North-South Korean border, the Indo-Pakistani Peace Park on the Siachen Glacier, the joint system of trans-boundary environmental protection between Thailand and Cambodia, and the joint management of Palestinian and Israeli water resources. These proposals, however, are by no means isolated. The idea that the development of environmental cooperation in conflict areas can create a bridge between conflict communities and help conflict transformation and resolution is almost two decades old. Declarations of cooperation between conflict communities and bringing the potential for peaceful relationships into conflict areas through joint environmental projects appear in the agendas of several international governmental and non-governmental organizations. However, our knowledge of the “real” workings of environmental cooperation in conflict zones does not correspond with the popularity of these thoughts and actions. Although environmental cooperation has been initiated in many conflict areas, the differences in individual cases are so large that, so far, there is neither accurate data nor any idea of the workings of environmental cooperation as a tool for conflict transformation. This book addresses some of these issues and offers several new findings. Specifically, it examines the emergence of environmental cooperation and its function in political conflicts. It concludes that not all environmental cooperation is real cooperation and not all real cooperation is favorable. The scope, form, and content of cooperation are important to the peacebuilding potential of environmental cooperation, and there are multiple intervening factors such as motivation of actors, their value preferences, and duration of the support of external actors.

In the past decades, an increasing emphasis on the principles and values can be observed in international relations and in the foreign policies of Western states. The book poses the question whether this is also demonstrated in Czech foreign policy, whether in the ease of the Czech Republic the ethics and values have infiltrated foreign policy, and describes the character of the Czech foreign policy in general. The basic thesis is that the Czech Republic has left the traditionally defined national interest and undergone a transformation towards an ethical foreign policy. The aim of the book is to watch the genesis of ethical Czech foreign policy and to answer the question to which extent Czech foreign policy follows moral principles and values.