This volume examines the future directions of Czech international policy through an interdisciplinary analysis of both historical and current Russian-Czech relations. It analyses Czech relations with Russia based on their historical heritage underpinned by the superpower’s behaviour and interests in the Central European region. The book’s central theme is the current Czech security dilemma in which the Czech political community perceives Russia as a security threat, but also would prefer to cooperate with Russia to ensure its security. The authors give a full overview and explanation of Czech-Russian relations, while also explaining the current dilemmas within the Czech Republic’s political, cultural and economic community.

This volume is the result of the work of scientists from several scientific disciplines who used various methods and forecasting techniques to answer the question: "What would happen if NATO and the EU weakened in the 21st century and Russia continued to influence the already strongly democratized and free-market societies in the region?" It is prognostic and intended to present the results of research on the political and social perception of the surveyed nations in the face of the weakening of the EU / NATO international security structures and the constant pressure from the Russian Federation in the 21st century. Please note: The research in this book covers the period 2020–2021.

This book analyzes the energy security of the United States – its ability to obtain reliable, affordable, and sufficient supplies of energy while meeting the goals of achieving environmental sustainability and protecting national security. The economic and national security of the United States is largely dependent upon fossil fuels, especially oil. Without significant changes to current practices and patterns of energy production and use, the domestic and global impacts – security, economic, and environmental – are expected to become worse over the coming decades. Growing US and global energy demands need to be met and the anticipated impacts of climate change must be avoided – all at an affordable price, while avoiding conflict with other nations that have similar goals. Bernell and Simon examine the current and prospective landscape of American energy policy, from tax incentives and mandates at the federal and state level to promote wind and solar power, to support for fracking in the oil and natural gas industries, to foreign policies designed to ensure that markets and cooperative agreements — not armies, navies and rival governments — control the supply and price of energy resources. They look at the variety of energy related challenges facing the United States and argue that public policies designed to enhance energy security have at the same time produced greater insecurity in terms of fostering rising (and potentially unmet) energy needs, national security threats, economic vulnerability, and environmental dangers.

This book shows that 'immigration phobia', or excessive anti-migrant hostility, is widespread globally.

Ethnic Violence and the Societal Security Dilemma explores how the phenomenon of ethnic violence can be understood as a form of security dilemma by shifting the focus of the concept away from its traditional concern with state sovereignty to that of identity instead. The book includes case studies on: * ethnic violence between Serbs and Croats in the Krajina region of Croatia, August 1990 * ethnic violence between Hungarian and Romanians in the Transylvania region of Romania, March 1990.

This is a first book-long analysis showing how the notion of ‘hybrid warfare’ was used to transform security policies and discourses in an EU/NATO country. Building on current debates in International Political Sociology, Critical Security Studies, and Critical Geopolitics, it provides a novel account of how crisis, geopolitics, uncertainty, and expertise are intertwined in the social construction of threats. Based on extensive and original empirical research of large textual archive and elite interviews in the Czech Republic and Brussels, the book shows how officials, bureaucrats, journalists, activists, and experts all participate in the reshaping of security in a new geopolitical environment. Zooming on the case of Czechia and its specific Central European context, it complements the predominantly Western-centric studies of insecurity with an account of how the liminal position on an East/West boundary influences security politics. As a first study of its kind and scope, it will be of interest to academics and students interested in Central European politics, practices and discourses of hybrid warfare, as well as critical approaches to security and geopolitics.

This book explores origins, manifestations, and functions of Pan-Slavism in contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, arguing that despite the extinction of Pan-Slavism as an articulated Romantic-era geopolitical ideology, a number of related discourses, metaphors, and emotions have spilled over into the mainstream debates and popular imagination. Using the term Slavophilia to capture the range of representations, the volume analyses how geopolitical discourses shape the identity and policies of a community, providing a comparative analysis that covers a range of Slavic countries in order to understand how Pan-Slavism works and resonates across geographic and political contexts.

This book, first published in 1993, examines the security concerns of the Central European countries in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War. The collapse of the Soviet Union brought considerable uncertainty and instability to its satellite states, now free from Moscow’s influence. This collection of essays by leading Central European experts analyses the problems and difficulties faced by these countries, as well as the opportunities offered in forging new security doctrines and alliances.

This book examines the mutual interplay of climate and energy policies in eleven Central and Eastern European countries in the context of the EU's energy transition. Energy security has long been prioritised in the region and has shaped not only national climate and energy policy, but also EU-level policy-making and implementation. Whilst the region shares economic, institutional and historical energy supplier commonalities it is not homogenous, and the book considers the significant differences between the preferences and policies of these member states. Chapters also explore the effect of the EU on member states that have joined since 2004 and their influence on the EU's energy and climate policies and their role in highlighting the importance of the concepts of security and solidarity. The book highlights the challenges to, and drivers of, energy transitions in the region and compares these with those in global energy transitions.