Tento text se zabývá vývojem časopisu Mezinárodní vztahy (dále MV) v letech 2000–2017. Jedná se o jednu ze tří dosavadních hlavních etap v novodobé historii vývoje časopisu po roce 1989. V první etapě, tedy do roku 2000, v časopise neexistovalo oboustranně anonymní recenzní řízení. Tento základní atribut moderního vědeckého časopisu MV získaly právě v uvedeném roce. S tím začíná druhá zásadní etapa. V ní se pojila existence standardního recenzního řízení s tím, že časopis vycházel pouze česky. V roce 2018 se pak otevírá třetí velká etapa, neboť MV v ní začaly vycházet vedle češtiny také v angličtině (střídala se jejich česká a anglická čísla). Text si klade za cíl rozebrat to, co MV v uvedené etapě publikovaly a kdo byli jejich autoři.

František Bauer: Bismarck v mezinárodní politice po prusko-francouzské válce /1871-1890/. Martin Kučera /ed./. 1. vydání. Praha: Historický ústav AV ČR, 2001, 223 s., ISBN 80-7286-025-9.

In the centre of this essay is a tension that under certain circumstances may appear between various state actors involved in economic diplomacy. In the case of the Slovak economic diplomacy both the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Ministry of Economy are the main actors in external economic relations. The paper briefly describes the origins of the tension between them and the reconciliation process that took place in the 10 years since the last reform of Slovakia’s economic diplomacy. The crucial reconciling role of the Government’s advisory body, the Council on Export and Investment Promotion, co-chaired by the ministers of foreign affairs and economy, is explained within the presented descriptive case study inbureaucratic politics. The article contributes to the conceptual discourse on economic diplomacy, while extending the theoretical and empirical knowledge of the subject with regard to the behavior of its main power actors econand the tensions between them.

This book explores the evolution of the 30 functioning multilateraldevelopment banks (MDBs). MDBs have their roots in the growing systemof international finance and multilateral cooperation, with the firstrecognisable MDB being proposed by Latin America in financial cooperationwith the US in the late 1930s. That Inter-American Bank did not eventuatebut was a precursor to the World Bank being negotiated at Bretton Woodsin 1944. Since then, a complex network of regional, sub-regional, andspecialised development banks has progressively emerged across theglobe, including two significant recent entrants established by China andthe BRICS.MDBs arrange loans, credits, and guarantees for investment in memberstates, generally with the stated aim of fostering economic growth. Theyoperate in both the Global North and South, though there are more MDBsfocusing on emerging and developing states. While the World Bank andsome of the larger regional banks have been scrutinised, little attention hasbeen paid to the smaller banks or the overall system. This book providesthe first study of all 30 MDBs and it evaluates their interrelationships. Itanalyses the emergence of the MDBs in relation to geopolitics,development paradigms and debt. It includes sections on each of the banksas well as on how MDBs have approached the key sectors of infrastructure,human development, and climate.This book will be of particular interest to researchers of developmentfinance, global governance, and international political economy.

An emerging literature has shown concerns about the impact of thepandemic on the proliferation of digital surveillance. Contributing to thesedebates, in this paper we demonstrate how the pandemic facilitates digitalsurveillance in three ways: (1) By shifting everyday communication to digitalmeans it contributes to the generation of extensive amounts of datasusceptible to surveillance. (2) It motivates the development of new digitalsurveillance tools. (3) The pandemic serves as a perfect justification forgovernments to prolong digital surveillance. We provide empiricalanecdotes for these three effects by examining reports by the Global DigitalPolicy Incubator at Stanford University. Building on our argument, weconclude that we might be on the verge of a dangerous normalization ofdigital surveillance. Thus, we call on scholars to consider the full effects ofpublic health crises on politics and suggest scrutinizing sources of digitaldata and the complex relationships between the state, corporate actors,and the sub-contractors behind digital surveillance.

The United States' approach to China since the Communist regime inBeijing began the period of reform and opening in the 1980s was based ona promise that trade and engagement with China would result in apeaceful, democratic state. Forty years later the hope of producing a benignPeople's Republic of China utterly failed. The Communist Party of Chinadeceived the West into believing that the its system and the Party-ruledPeople's Liberation Army were peaceful and posed no threat. In fact, thesemisguided policies produced the emergence of a 21st Century Evil Empireeven more dangerous than a Cold War version in the Soviet Union.Successive American presidential administrations were fooled by ill-advisedpro-China policymakers, intelligence analysts and business leaders whofacilitated the rise not of a peaceful China but a threatening andexpansionist nuclear-armed communist dictatorship not focused on asingle overriding strategic objective: Weakening and destroying the UnitedStates of America. Defeating the United States is the first step for China'scurrent rulers in achieving global supremacy under a new world orderbased an ideology of Communism with Chinese characteristics. The processincluded technology theft of American companies that took place on amassive scale through cyber theft and unfair trade practices. The lossesdirectly supported in the largest and most significant buildup of theChinese military that now directly threatens American and allied interestsaround the world. The military threat is only half the danger as Chinaaggressively pursues regional and international control using a variety ofnon-military forces, including economic, cyber and space warfare and large-scale influence operations.

The role and importance of religion in many countries' foreign policy seemto be rising again. Many scholars have shown that Saudi Arabia uses thespread of religion, specifically Salafi Islam, as a tool for its foreign policy andto strengthen its influence. Saudi Arabia is a crucial player in the MENAregion and the entire Islamic world, and its regional and internationalimportance is constantly increasing. The author considers understandingSaudi Arabia’s activities and its foreign policy strategies, mechanisms, andtools in Africa as very important, as Africa is becoming an arena for newpowers once again. The article aims to identify how Saudi Arabia penetratesAfrican states and spreads Salafism. It focuses on analyzing Saudi foreignpolicy, emphasizing the role of religion and its export. The author analyzesSaudi Arabia's relations with five selected African states, where Salafism isspreading, in the period from 2015 to the present.

Over the course of the twentieth century, Japan has experienced a radicalshift in its self-perception. After World War II, Japan embraced a peacefuland anti-militarist identity, which was based on its war-prohibitingConstitution and the foreign policy of the Yoshida doctrine. For most of thetwentieth century, this identity was unusually stable. In the last couple ofdecades, however, Japan’s self-perception and foreign policy seem to havechanged. Tokyo has conducted a number of foreign policy actions as well assymbolic internal gestures that would have been unthinkable a few decadesago and that symbolize a new and more confident Japan. Japanesepoliticians – including Prime Minister Abe Shinzō – have adopted a newdiscourse depicting pacifism as a hindrance, rather than asset, to Japan’sforeign policy. Does that mean that “Japan is back”? In order to betterunderstand the dynamics of contemporary Japan, Kolmaš joins up the dotsbetween national identity theory and Japanese revisionism. The book showsthat while political elites and a portion of the Japanese public call for re-articulation of Japan’s peaceful identity, there are still societal andinstitutional forces that prevent this change from entirely materializing.

Meet the world's most dangerous man. Or is he? Who is the real VladimirPutin? What does he want? And what will he do next? Despite the millions ofwords written on Putin's Russia, the West still fails to truly understand oneof the world's most powerful politicians, whose influence spans the globeand whose networks of power reach into the very heart of our daily lives. Inthis essential primer, Professor Mark Galeotti uncovers the man behind themyth, addressing the key misperceptions of Putin and explaining how wecan decipher his motivations and next moves. From Putin’s early life in theKGB and his real relationship with the USA to his vision for the future ofRussia – and the world – Galeotti draws on new Russian sources andexplosive unpublished accounts to give unparalleled insight into the man atthe heart of global politics.

V prvním letošním čísle Mezinárodních vztahů vyšel článek Tomáše Profantas názvem Rasizmus v rozvoji a rozvojové spolupráci. Publikování textuspustilo živou diskusi, kterou se redakce rozhodla podpořit oslovenímněkterých dalších autorů a autorek a transformovat do podoby diskusníhofóra. Jednotlivé příspěvky, které na rozdíl od Profantova článkuneprocházely plnohodnotným recenzním řízením, se tak vyrovnávají sargumenty a metodologickými postupy původního textu, rozvíjejí jej alokalizují do místních podmínek či poukazují na empirické příklady, jež jejpotvrzují. Celé fórum uzavírá odpověď Tomáše Profanta na jednotlivévznesené připomínky. Byť fórum reaguje na konkrétní článek, doufáme, žeby i tato diskuse mohla přispět k širší reflexi práce s konceptem rasismu ajejí implikace pro politickou praxi. Věříme, že právě v tomto je tato debata vsoučasném akademickém i politickém kontextu velmi aktuální.