Ústav mezinárodních vztahů

Moscow's Balkan Mischief
The volatile Balkans are again turning into a trouble spot. This time around, the hand of Moscow is busy stirring the pot and so Mark Galeotti, the internationally recognized expert on Russia, was one of the experts commenting on this situation on the Power Vertical Podcast of the RFE/RL.

The Spies Who Love Putin
Mark Galeotti analyses for The Atlantic "How the FSB's loyalty to Russia's president made it the country's most powerful intelligence agency".

A New World Order?
Mark Galeotti was among the guests of RFE/RL commenting on U.S.-Russian relations in the age of Trump and the future of the liberal international order.

A Trump-Putin summit? Bring it on.
Mark Galeotti in his report for ECFR discusses relation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Ideology and professionalism in SME
"The third most-read newspaper in Slovakia seems to suffer from a bad case of ideological bias," writes Tomáš Profant in his comment for Political Critique.

At least security-wise, Trump’s presidency will consolidate the EU
Just days before his inauguration, US president elect Donald Trump has kicked up a storm in Europe with remarks about NATO and the EU made in a joint interview with The Times and the German newspaper Bild. Mr. Trump said NATO had become “obsolete” and the European Union was “a vehicle for Germany” predicting that more EU member states would vote to leave the bloc as Britain did last June. Daniela Lazarová spoke to Petr Kratochvíl for his take on the US president elect’s words.

The Trump Dossier: dynamite or disinformation?
In the fierce information battle on Donald Trump a 35 page highly secret document by an unknown British intelligence officer was leaked that, if true, is devastating for the president-elect. But is it plausible? Our Senior Research Fellow Mark Galeotti is sceptical. This superspy has unbelievable many high-placed sources in the Kremlin. The turmoil suits the Kremlin well.

Will the populist wave wash away NATO and the European Union?
According to Mark Galeotti's recent article in the NATO Review Magazine, "anti-establishment populism is undeniably on the rise across the West. From Donald Trump’s election pledge to “drain the swamp” in Washington, through Brexit, to the ascendancy of movements such as Italy’s Five Stars on the left and Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland on the right, a rejection of old orthodoxies and with them political elites and institutions is proving a powerful appeal. One can debate the causes, and clearly there are different specifics in play in Europe compared with the United States, and even various parts of Europe. What is clear, though, is that Moscow is eagerly encouraging this wave not just because it is challenging the premises of the post-1945 values-based liberal international order, but also because it is poses real security threats to Europe."

Survey finds most Czechs unenthused about European Parliament
A new survey conducted by the European Parliament reveals that Czechs have more negative views about this institution than the EU average. Almost three-quarters of Czech respondents said that they did not believe their voices were being heard by the EU, and only 17 percent of Czechs have a favourable view of the European Parliament. Jan Kovář was asked by Radio Prague what was according to him behind such low numbers.

Russia’s regional challenge needs more than gubernatorial assessment
When in August Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly sacked Sergei Ivanov, head of the Presidential Administration, and thus, in effect, his even-more-prime minister, the expectation was that his rather more low-key successor, Anton Vaino, would bring about some restructuring of this ‘government-within-a-government’. His first move, reforming regional management, is equally undramatic in form, but addresses what may prove to be the most important real challenge facing the regime in the coming years. The way its Directorate for Domestic Politics (or UVP in Russian) works with the regions and above all regional governors is being streamlined by Sergei Kiriyenko, the new first deputy head of the Presidential Administration who will be its chief domestic political overseer. Mark Galeotti comments on the shifts in the Russian politics for BNE IntelliNews.