Institute of International Relations Prague

🔷 Last week, Czech Security Forum 2026 once again brought together diplomats, security practitioners, leading academics, researchers and think-tank experts to share their expertise across three key areas: the future of NATO and European security, foreign interference, and political polarisation.

🔷 If you would like to find out more about the discussions that shaped this year’s conference, you can now read the full conference report on our website and browse the complete photo gallery here: iir.cz/en/from-the-fu…

A big thank you to everyone who joined us at Atrium Žižkov, to all our speakers, moderators and guests for sharing their expertise and perspectives, and to the organising teams and interns who helped make the entire day possible!

We would also like to thank all our partners who helped us organise this year’s conference: Peace Research Center Prague, Institute of International Relations, Prague, IMS FSV UK - Institut mezinárodních studií FSV UK, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Prague, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Prague and the Embassy of Denmark in Prague.

🔷 Supported by the European Regional Development Fund project “Foreign Interference in The Context of Geopolitical and Technological Change (INTERFER)” (reg. no.: CZ.02.01.01/00/23_025/0008692) with the support of the European Union and the Ministerstvo školství, mládeže a tělovýchovy (MŠMT).

„Čím slabší jsou transatlantické vazby, tím slabší je Evropa,“ upozornila Nicole Deitelhoff v prvním panelu letošního Czech Security Forum.

Konferenci a její klíčová témata shrnuli pro @CzDefence Michael Jarkovský a Martin Růžička. Pokud vás zajímá, co dalšího v debatách zaznělo, přečtěte si celý článek.

czdefence.cz/clanek/czech-s…

Our third panel, Polarization, examined how political divisions are being shaped both by social and economic pressures and by deliberate political strategies.

Moderated by Martin Laryš, Deputy Research Director at the Institute of International Relations Prague, the discussion brought together three perspectives on the sources and consequences of polarisation across Europe.

🔷 Marlene Wind, PhD, Professor at the University of Copenhagen, focused on the geopolitical dimension of polarisation and argued that political leaders can actively deepen divisions in order to consolidate power. She also discussed growing tensions in transatlantic relations and their implications for European unity.

🔷 Jan Kovář, Research Director at the Institute of International Relations Prague, examined the different factors driving societal polarisation, including economic inequality, cultural divisions, attitudes towards the EU and changing expectations about the role of the state.

🔷 Bulcsú Hunyadi, Head of Programmes at Political Capital, used Hungary as an example of top-down polarisation, highlighting the role of media control, information manipulation and political communication in sustaining divisions within society.

With that, this year’s Czech Security Forum came to a close. A big thank you to everyone who accepted our invitation and joined us throughout the day, to all our speakers and moderators for sharing their expertise, to our partners and organisers for making the event possible, and to everyone in the audience for being part of the discussion! See you next year!

Our second panel, Foreign Interference, focused on how foreign information manipulation, digital platforms and domestic politics interact, and why the line between external influence and internal political dynamics is often difficult to draw.

Moderated by Elena Şimanschi, Researcher at the Peace Research Center Prague and the INTERFER project, the discussion brought together three perspectives on how interference works, why societies remain vulnerable to it and how Europe should respond.

🔷 Ian Garner, Assistant Professor at the Pilecki Institute, spoke about Russia’s use of what he described as emotional warfare, the growing role of AI-generated “slopaganda” and the danger of an information environment in which people increasingly struggle to distinguish what is real. He also stressed the responsibility of social media platforms and the importance of rebuilding face-to-face communities.

🔷 Asya Metodieva, Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Relations, Prague, focused on the blurred boundary between foreign interference and domestic politics, particularly during elections. She highlighted how FIMI adapts to different national contexts and raised the challenge of developing an effective European response without undermining democratic principles.

🔷 Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Professor at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, emphasised the vulnerability of the civilian domain, our growing dependence on digital information and the need to understand how interference affects different societies in different ways. She also called for more localised approaches, greater European technological capacity and stronger societal resilience.

The Czech Security Forum 2026 has officially kicked off at Atrium Žižkov in Prague!

The day opened with Mats Braun , Director of the Institute of International Relations, Prague, who welcomed our guests and introduced the programme. The opening remarks continued with:

🔷 Snøfrid Byrløkken Emterud, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to the Czech Republic, who reflected on the changing European security landscape, the importance of strong alliances and a rules-based international order,

🔷 Jörg Bergstermann, Director of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Prague, who highlighted the ongoing transformation of the global order and asked how stable today’s alliances really are as they face an increasingly demanding geopolitical stress test.

Michal Smetana, Director of the Peace Research Center Prague, then picked up on these themes, asking how we should understand the return of great power politics and what the changing geopolitical landscape means for NATO.

The opening was followed by our keynote speaker, Brett Ashley Leeds, Professor at Rice University, who explored why military alliances continue to matter and what the United States itself gains from them. She stressed that alliances provide not only security, but also political influence and bargaining power, while declining trust in US commitments could push allies to seek alternative security arrangements.

Michal Smetana then opened our first panel, NATO and the Future of European Security, bringing together:

🔷 Jim Stokes, former Director of Nuclear Policy at NATO, who spoke about Russia as the central threat shaping NATO’s current posture, the challenges of deterrence and escalation, and the need for Europe to think more seriously about its future security architecture and defence capabilities.

🔷 Lauren Sukin, Associate Professor at the University of Oxford, who focused on declining confidence in US security commitments, Europe’s growing need to strengthen its own capabilities and the importance of greater coordination among European and other middle powers.

🔷 Nicole Deitelhoff, Executive Director of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, is also contributing to the discussion on the future of NATO and European security.

We are only getting started! More discussions on foreign interference and political polarisation will follow throughout the day.