The goal of the course is to reflect on creation, development and current form of co-operation of so-called Visegrád Group countries as well as on the wider context of co-operation in Central Europe. The first part of the course shall present the genesis of co-operation in Central Europe at the turn of 1980´s and 1990´s within the context of the fall of the Iron Curtain and building of so-called Hexagonal and the Central European Initiative respectively. Subsequently the lectures shall focus on the origin and targets of the Visegrád Group as well as its development. The lectures will reflect both the objectives as well as obstacles related to internal political developments in V4 countries. The Central European dimension of co-operation will be monitored in contrast within the framework of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) as well as within the framework of so-called central European Summits of Presidents. The closing part of the lecture shall introduce the current model of co-operation among the Visegrád Group countries with specific focus on co-ordination of activities towards European Union including co-operation with Slovenia (V4 + 1 model). The V4 model will be subject to contrastive comparison with other European models (Benelux, Nordic co-operation, Black Sea co-operation, Western Balkans). In the last part of the course we focus on the actual issues of V4 cooperation.

Literature for the students:

Obligatory

• Druláková, Radka (2007): Visegrad Group within the EU – a Stable or Diluted Coalition? Faculty of International Relations (University of Economics in Prague) Working Papers, 7/2007, 21 p.
• Lukášek, Libor (2012): The Visegrad Group. Its development in the years 1991 – 2004. Verlag Dr. Kovac.
• Vykoukal, Jiří (2003): Visegrád – Možnosti a meze středoevropské spolupráce. Prague: Dokořán.
• Waisová, Šárka (2003): Mezinárodní organizace a režimy ve středovýchodní Evropě. Prague: Eurolex Bohemia.

Recommended

• Cabada, Ladislav – Waisová, Šárka (2011): Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic in World Politics. Lanham: Lexington Books.
• Cabada, Ladislav a kol. (2002): Perspektivy regionu Střední Evropa. Pilsen: University of West Bohemia.
• Dangerfield, Martin (2008): The Visegrád Group in the Expanded European Union: From Preaccession to Postaccession Cooperation. East European Politics and Societies 22 (3), 630-667.
• Grochicki, Piotr (2013): Zwischen europäischer, regionaler und nationalen Identität: Die Visegrad-Staaten vor der EU-Osterweiterung. GRIN Verlag.
• Jagodziński, Andrzej (ed.) (2006): The Visegrad Group – A Central European Constellation. Bratislava: International Visegrad Fund.
• Lukáč, Pavol (2004): Dejiny a zahraničná politika v strednej Európe. Bratislava: Kalligram.
• Lukášek, Libor (2012): The Visegrad Group. Its development in the years 1991 – 2004. Verlag Dr. Kovac.
• Ort, Alexandr (2003): Česká zahraniční politika. Pilsen: Aleš Čeněk.

Waisová, Šárka (2011): Tíha volby.  Česká zahraniční politika mezi principy a zájmy. Prague: Institute of International Relations.