Economics-Focused Articles in the Journal Mezinárodní Vztahy as a Reflection of the Specifics of Czech Research
Abstract
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the academic journal Mezinárodní vztahy, the developments of International Relations as a scientific discipline in former Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic that took place so far are subjected to critical reflection. In this context, the article analyzes research papers focused on international economic relations that were published in the periods 1966–1969 and 1992–2015, i.e., the key periods of the journal. It puts the papers into the context of International Political Economy and highlights the differences between the outcomes of the research in former Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, and the international trends and standards for such research. At the same time, the paper captures the initial coherence of the research with the political needs of the state, at first the socialist Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic in transition, and its gradual overcoming of this coherence. It also examines the institutional framework for the research. Due to the diversity of the set of texts in focus, the analysis leans on simple general criteria – the prevailing perspectives used for the analysis of the international economic relations, correspondence with the main branches of International Political Economy, qualitative vs. quantitative methodology and the basic typology of institutions involved in international relations research.
Author Biography
Pavel Hnát
Pavel Hnát, born in 1981, he is a lecturer at the Department of World Economy at the Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics (VSE) in Prague, and since 2012, he is the Vice Dean of the same faculty for pedagogical activities. He teaches courses on World Economy, Regionalism in the World Economy and International Economic Relations. At Charles University, he teaches The Transition and Association Process and The Global Economy and Crises, which are courses for foreign students. He specializes in new regionalism, comparative regionalism and the position of the European Union in the global economy. At the University of Economics, he also acts as a member of the Centre for European Studies and as an editor of the journal Contemporary Europe (Současná Evropa).
Štěpánka Zemanová
Štěpánka Zemanová, born in 1975, she graduated from the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Economics and from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague. At the moment, she is the Head of the Jan Masaryk Centre of International Relations at the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Economics. In her research, publishing and lecturing activities she specializes in international political aspects of the protection of human rights and also deals with issues of European integration. She is a beneficiary of the grant GA CR "Possibilities and Limits of Czech Foreign Policy Activism" (13-30724S), a co-author of the monographs The International Context of the Contemporary Czech Sanction Policy and Czech Foreign Policy Activism: Possibilities and Limits and the author of the monograph Europeanization of Foreign Policy in the Realm of Human Rights.
Miloslav Machoň
Miloslav Machoň, born in 1988, he is a PhD candidate at the Jan Masaryk Centre for International Studies at the Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics, where he leads the exercises of economic diplomacy. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and his Master's degree in International Relations at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen.