Czechoslovakia, as a successor state of Austria-Hungary, was forced to deal with the loss of the large protected domestic market that had been provided by membership of the former empire. Several trade missions were organised in the early 1920s in order to seek new areas of activity for Czechoslovak exports and imports, often in hitherto unknown markets. The missions were initiated by the Ministry of Trade or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The paper describes a mission organised by Václav Girsa, which was led by Josef Hříbek. The Hříbek mission was a Czechoslovak legionaries' mission, organised as a by-product of the return of the Legions en route from Vladivostok to Europe. The mission aimed at providing a first hand analysis of the Turkestan area. The route led from Vladivostok, through Bombay, to British Balochistan and then from Eastern Persia to Turkestan. ongoing local conflicts caused a major change in the mission's plans and the group undertook an economic and political study of persia instead., Adéla Jůnová Macková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The article deals with the reform agenda of the semi-civilian government led by President Thein Sein, which took over on 30 March 2011, after almost 50 years of military rule over the country. The author examines a series of concrete steps that the government took in 2011 and in the early 2012, which set a different tone for the governance of the country. More specifically, he elaborates on the political reconcilitation of the main opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, with the government, and the peace agreements which several ethnic underground armed groups signed to end the longstanding armed conflict in the country. The government was also more engaged internationally, to win the support of the West, as evidenced mainly by the visit of the US Secretary Hilary Clinton to Myanmar in December 2011. The author argues that while the government has indicated its will to cope with the long term-stagnation of the country, the major reforms have not yet been implemented and the ultimate success of the reform process is far from guaranteed., Jan Bečka., and Obsahuje poznámky