Malé státy v mezinárodních vztazích a otázky mezinárodní bezpečnosti

With the collapse of the bipolar system and increasing number and importance of small states, the emphasis is not placed only on the great powers anymore. In the globalizing world states have to face new threats and adapt its security and foreign policy tools. The aim of the thesis is to find out which steps two small countries - Czech Republic and Norway, undertake to ensure their safety and minimize their threats. The first chapter analyzes foreign policies of the selected countries, and decides whether they are really small states. After defining the major threats as terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, an analysis of counter-terrorism actions based on the official counter-terrorism strategies of the UN, the OSCE, the NATO, and the EU follows. From this analysis the thesis then concludes that Czech Republic and Norway are small, but not weak states and they may contribute to minimizing global threats.