Czech Post-1989 Diplomacy and Foreign Policy - JPM091

• Title: Czech Post-1989 Diplomacy and Foreign Policy
• Czech title: Česká diplomacie a zahraniční politika po roce 1989
• Guaranteed by: Department of Political Science (23-KP)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2025
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 4
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: 25 / unknown (25)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: Mgr. Tomáš Petříček, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): Mgr. Tomáš Petříček, Ph.D.

Annotation

The course focuses on the transformation of Czechoslovak and Czech diplomacy after 1989, on the development and establishment of the main themes of Czech foreign policy since the early 1990s, and on the evolution of diplomatic practice within the Czech foreign service in connection with the country’s preparation for accession to, and subsequent integration into, Euro-Atlantic structures. Its aim is to present the functioning of diplomatic practice against the backdrop of the development of Czech foreign policy and its key issues. Building on both the historical and thematic framework of Czechoslovak and Czech foreign policy-making, the course also places the foreign policy of small and medium-sized states into a broader international context.

Last update: Petříček Tomáš, Mgr., Ph.D. (15.09.2025)

Course completion requirements

Prerequisite:

None

 

 

Course requirements:

The evaluation will be based on the final essay. The essay should be submitted by 15th January 2026.

 

The final assessment is marked as following:

100 % - 91 % ...A

90 % - 81 % ... B

80 % - 71 % ... C

70 % - 61 % ... D

60 % - 51 % ... E

Less than 50 % ... F

Last update: Petříček Tomáš, Mgr., Ph.D. (15.09.2025)

Teaching methods

In person lectures and seminars.

Last update: Petříček Tomáš, Mgr., Ph.D. (15.09.2025)

Syllabus

The course will be organized in bloc lectures on the following dates: 11.10. (introductory lecture), 18.10., 8.11., 22.11., 13.12. and 20.12.2024.
The students´ evaluation will be based on the written essay (10 pages) providing critical arguments on the topic that shall be consulted by students in advance with the lecturer. The essay shall be submitted by 15th January 2024.

 

Program:

Introduction:

1.    Introduction – course structure, recommended literature, aim of course and contextualization of the topics covered by the course;

Historical Context and Genesis:

2.    Velvet Revolution and Czechoslovak Diplomacy – from Soviet satellite to resurgent independence in international relations;

3.    Dissolution of Czechoslovakia – impacts on Czech diplomacy and foreign policy;

4.    Return to Europe – Czech diplomacy between 1993 and 2004;

5.    Czech diplomacy and foreign policy after 2004;

Institutions:

6.    Institutions and actors of Czech foreign policy; 

Thematic areas:

7.    Bilateral and Multilateral relations of the Czech Republic

8.    Human rights diplomacy – dispute over the foreign policy flagship (guest – tbc) 

9.    Geopolitics and security reflections in the Czech foreign policy

10.  Economic diplomacy and its role in Czech foreign policy

11.  Development cooperation and humanitarian assistance (guest – tbc)

12.  Public diplomacy and emerging topics in the Czech foreign policy

Last update: Petříček Tomáš, Mgr., Ph.D. (09.10.2024)