The Prague Security Studies Institute will convene its fifth international Space Security Conference on June 9-11, 2019, in Prague, in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Secure World Foundation (SWF). This invitation-only event, entitled “Evolution of the Counterspace Threat and Strengthening of International Space Partnerships”, will seek to identify policy challenges related to this higher risk environment, especially the expansion of space hybrid operations into the economic and financial (E&F) domain. More information can be found on the conference website.
Keynote speakers will include Andrea L Thompson, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, U.S. Department of State, Lt Gen David D. Thompson, Vice Commander of the United States Air Force Space Command, Toshihiko Kasahara, Deputy Director of the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center (CSICE), Kai-Uwe Schrogl, Chief Strategist at the European Space Agency (ESA) and Carine Clayes, Special Envoy for Space (acting) at the European External Action Service. A complete list of speakers is available here.
PSSI’s Space Security Program Director, Dr. Jana Robinson, will serve as a speaker at the Secure World Foundation’s (SWF) inaugural Summit for Space Sustainability that will take place in Washington, DC, on June 24-26, 2019. It is a high-level event that aims at promoting concrete action toward long-term sustainability of space activities.
Dr. Robinson will appear at an invitation-only workshop on Monday, June 24, that will take place at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as well as a public part of the Summit at the National Press Club on Tuesday, June 25. Dr. Robinson will focus her presentation on challenges stemming from economic and financial (E&F) space hybrid operations and the troubling collection of international space partnerships by authoritarian space powers.
PSSI's project entitled,"Western Balkans at the Crossroads: Assessing Non-Democratic External Influence Activities", seeks to identify, analyze and publicize Russian, Chinese, Turkish, and Gulf State influence activities and use of sharp power in the Balkans. Researchers specifically focused on the malign foreign influence in five post-Yugoslav and non-EU member countries: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo.
In October 2018, PSSI published the project's third briefing paper which covers Russian, Chinese, Turkish, Gulf States’ and Iranian influence in the economic and financial sphere. It focused on FDI, trade, the identification of main investors and forms of dependencies, especially in the energy sector and strategic infrastructure.
The project's fourth briefing paper was released in November 2018 and reported on Russian, Chinese, Turkish, the Gulf States’ and Iranian influence in the cultural, academic and religious sphere, areas most often associated with the notion of soft power in international relations.
The fifth briefing paper covered Russian, Chinese, Turkish, the Gulf States’ and Iranian influence in media and elections. The sixth briefing paper, published in February 2019, looked at extremism and radicalism. It mostly explored and analysed Russia’s role in the spread of right-wing and nationalist extremism and the Gulf States’ imprint in the support of the Islamist extremism.
The final publication summarizing project outcomes is available here.
In the framework of the project, the researches also wrote numerous shorter articles on the situation in the region.
The Prague Security Studies Institute launched a new project titled, "Foreign Affairs & Security Analysis: Newsroom Perspective" for students of journalism and journalists at the start of their careers. The main aims of the project are to create a deeper understanding about foreign and security policy-related issues among young and aspiring Czech journalists, introduce the practical experience of journalists from the UK to the Czech environment, and foster contacts between Czech and UK media professionals.
On March 15, 2019, students of journalism had a chance to discuss various issues connected with a career in journalism with Defence and Security Correspondent for The Independent, Kim Sengupta, Foreign Correspondent for The Telegraph Matthew Day, and Christian Davies, a correspondent based in Warsaw for The Guardian & Observer. In the workshop part of the program, students had the opportunity to conduct interviews with those foreign experts.
March 16 was dedicated to young journalists who had the chance to discuss issues ranging from forms of unwanted pressure journalists face to reporting from conflict zones with Jakub Szanto from the Czech Television, Warsaw-based correspondent Matthew Day, and The Independent's Kim Sengupta. During the workshop, the participants draftedtheir own articles on relevant security/foreign policy issues under the supervision of Kim Sengupta, Matthew Day, and the editor-in-chief of Transitions Online Jeremy Druker.
The national security dimensions of global economic and financial (E&F) relations are more apparent in our highly interdependent world than ever before. In some cases, a non-democratic foreign investor might seek to purchase strategic assets that enable them to control or influence national policies which are critical to security and public order.
PSSI has long recognized this reality and runs a dedicated E&F Threat Program. To provide greater situational awareness, since July 2018, the Institute began to produce a monitoring newsletter in Czech to highlight this often subtle and sophisticated form of power projection. This monitoring also serves the function of following the discussion on strengthening foreign investment screening mechanisms in the EU and other NATO countries.
Since February 2019, the newsletter has been published in English. It aims to illustratethe national security dimensions of global economic and financial relations not only in the Czech Republic, but in all EU member states and NATO countries. An integral part of this effort are also updates about the latest developments in strengthening investment screening mechanisms and other regulatory initiatives.
The latest issue, which examines the emerging outline of the Czech foreign investment screening mechanism, is available here.
The Prague Security Studies Institute is honoured to be ranked among the top think tanks in the world in 6 categories according to the latest edition of the Global Go To Think Tank Index, produced by The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. This program conducts research on the role public policy institutes play vis a vis governments and civil societies around the world. The Global Go To Think Tank Index is the result of an international survey of over 7,500 scholars, public and private donors, policy-makers, and journalists who helped rank more than 6,600 think tanks using a set of 28 criteria developed by the TTCSP.
PSSI is particularly pleased to be ranked #8 in Central/Eastern Europe and Russia, #63 among Top Defense and National Security Think Tanks, and #61 among the top Foreign Policy and International Affairs Think Tanks.
PSSI was also ranked #104 Worldwide (Non-US) and #60 of the Best Managed Think Tanks. The Index also ranked PSSI #28 on the list of Think Tanks to Watch in 2019.
PSSI HELD A CONFERENCE TITLED "WESTERN BALKANS AT THE CROSSROADS: ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF EXTERNAL ACTORS"
The Prague Security Studies Institute co-organized the event together with the Institute of International Relationsunder the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry’sDepartment of Foreign Policy Analysis and Planning.
Invited speakers assessed the influence of all external actors playing a role in the region in a changing global dynamic marked by worsening Western relations with Russia, fears of Chinese economic expansion, increasingly tense relations with Turkey, and a more robust presence of the Gulf states. In this context, they discussed the current challenges and vulnerabilities of Western Balkan countries as well as the foreign policy objectives and strategies of external actors and their interconnections.
For China, the Balkans and the Visegrad region represent a gateway to European markets. While some stakeholders recommend taking full advantage of opportunities stemming from China's rise, there is a dearth of discussion on the national security implications of increased trade and capital flows. "Comparative Analysis of the Approach Towards China: V4+ and One Belt One Road" seeks to explore these implications.
In February 2019, PSSI organized a closed roundtable with the project partners. The event was dedicated to Chinese investment activities in V4 countries and Serbia and the related opportunities and risks.
PSSI also organized a public roundtable titled "How to Secure Key Sectors of the Economics Against Risk Investments?" The roundtable presented risks connected with non-standard economic behaviour of foreign powers and gave insight into the development of the EU FDI screening framework.
PSSI's researchers made a study of the most common myths about the European Union.
The analysis focused on the six most frequently employed myths about the EU populating disinformation websites in 2018. The primary data was supplied by manipulatori.cz.
Researchers also looked at the role of disinformation in the election campaign. The preliminary results of the analysis are available here.
The data-gathering was conducted using the >versus< media monitoring tool, developed by the Beacon Project of the International Republican Institute.
PSSI’s Space Security Program Director, Dr. Jana Robinson, contributed to the16th meeting of the Space Security Working Group (SSWG) that took place in Montreal on 15-17 May 2019.
On November 29, 2018, the Prague Security Studies Institute, in cooperation with the Centre for International Relations, organized a workshop for future journalists titled “Become a Mythbuster”. The workshop was co-led by CIR’s Antoni Wierzejski and PSSI’s Jonas Syrovatka, who explained the history of disinformation and the ways in which it is disseminated, citing cases from both Poland and the Czech Republic. Students were also given practical recommendations for recognizing disinformation and manipulation. A video from the event is available on our Youtube channel.
Jonas Syrovatka also contributed to The New Guide to Critical Thinking. The chief aim of the publication is to provide practical examples and offer useful recommendations on how to recognize manipulation in the digital age.
The Security Academy for Young Politicians is a program offered to members of youth organizations of democratic political parties in order to improve their capabilities in the security field. This year's session was concluded on April 6, 2019.
The lectures of participants focused on the Euro-Atlantic partnership, Czech-German security cooperation, and hybrid threats. During a workshop, the attendees prepared and delivered a political speech on a security-related theme.
Since September 2016, PSSI, in cooperation with ISAC, organised a project supported by the Czech Embassy in Belgrade and the Czech Development Agency with a goal of establishing a system for selecting, training and deploying Serbian civilians to multilateral peace support and crises management operations.
The culminating event of the project in 2018 was the first Serbian Comprehensive Generic Training on Peace Operations (CGTPO) course which was held from November 26 to December 7. Completion of this course was one of the main preconditions for civilian experts to be enrolled in multinational operations. The course was held at the Peacekeeping Operations Centre (PKOC) and Multinational Operations Training Centre of the Serbian Armed Forces.
As part of its "Czech Election in the Era of Disinformation" project, the Prague Security Studies Institute analyzed how platforms disseminating disinformation treated the electoral campaigns for the Czech Senate.
The final report is available in Czech, while the summary is available both in Czech and English.
This project monitors disinformation narratives in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Within the framework of the project, PSSI's Jonas Syrovatka co-authored a new briefing paper together with colleagues from the GLOBSEC Policy Institute and the Political Capital Instituteexploring the coverage of the Kerch Strait incident in Czech, Hungarian and Slovak media. The incident heightened tensions between the Russian Federation and Ukraine following Moscow’s unlawful annexation of Crimea in 2014. It also highlighted the tense legal status of the Strait and Azov Sea, as well as Russia’s expansionist designs.
The theme of this year’s Congress was “IAC2018 – Involving Eveyone“. PSSI contributed with a lecture and two papers. Dr. Martina Smuclerova, PSSI Senior Fellow, delivered a lecture (and an article) on October 3 at the 61st IISL Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space on the topic “Legal Perspectives for the Further Development of the Five United Nations Treaties on Outer Space in Light of Rising Multistakeholderism“. Dr. Smuclerova presented the legal modes concerning how international space law can be updated and developed with and without the revision of the UN Space Treaties (PPT presentation available here).
PSSI also presented a paper entitled “Europe’s Management of Space Hybrid Threats“ in session D5.4 entitled “Cybersecurity Threats to Space Missions and Countermeasures to Address Them“. It argued that to build a resilient space architecture in Europe, hybrid operations, including those stemming from cyber and economic and financial (E&F) predations, need to be integrated into the broader security architectures of NATO and EU member states. (PPT presentation can be accessed here.)
PSSI’s Space Security Program Director, Dr. Jana Robinson, participated in a panel discussion on “International Space Cooperation” at Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) Discourse 2.0 organized by India’s Forum for Integrated National Security(FINS) in Goa, India, on October 23-25, 2018. The conference included regional participants from some 10 countries. Dr. Robinson discussed the challenges confronting the U.S., Europe, India, Japan and other partners related to space hybrid operations, especially in the economic and financial (E&F) domain. She argued that attention needs to be given to the implications of authoritarian space powers (notably China and Russia) seeking to capture the space sectors of those countries with which they are forging space partnerships, as well as global space security more broadly. Dr. Robinson’s PPT presentation can be accessed here.
PSSI'S PROGRAM DIRECTOR PETR LANG AT THE GLOBAL THINK TANK SUMMIT 2018
Petr Lang was one of the panelists in a discussion titled "The Future or Back to the Future?: New Actors and Alliances."
The post-WWII economic, political and security order are being challenged and redefined by national and regional tectonic shifts in domestic and international politics. The panel discussed these changes and suggested ways that think tanks can help policy makers and the public respond to both the challenges and opportunities they present.
PSSI's Jonas Syrovatka was one of the speakers at the breakout session titled "Securing Europe in the Times of Hybrid Conflicts" at the Next 100 Symposium organized by the Global Arena Research Institute. The session was sponsored by the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit and covered the most feasible scenarios for the future development of hybrid warfare, the resilience capacities of Europe, and estimations of current readiness for hybrid conflicts in Europe.
PSSI’s Space Security Program Project Coordinator, Tereza Barbora Kupkova, spoke at the Arms Control in Outer Space panel at the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Conference taking place in Brussels in December 2018, discussing Space Security in the Age of Hybrid Operations.
On February 13, 2019, Jonas Syrovatka participated in the last session of EaP & V4 Countries Countering Disinformation in Tbilisi titled "Disinformation and the Youth Resilience: Forging a New Generation of Leaders."
PSSI’s Space Security Program Director, Dr. Jana Robinson, took part in a closed roundtable, organized on October 19, 2018, by CSIS Missile Defense Project, headed by Dr. Thomas Karako, on issues related to the evolution of the missile defense enterprise. The discussion focused largely on challenges related to the division of institutional roles.
On October 31, 2018, Dr. Michael Hsieh, Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab Executive Director from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and Jakub Otcenasek from the National Cyber and Information Security Agency discussed data loss prevention – the typology of cyber attackers, their motivation and methods to defend against them. The event was organized in cooperation with the American Center.
In November, 2018, Jonas Syrovatka took part at the Erasmian European Youth Parliament (EEYP) in Prague. EEYP was founded in Rotterdam in the Erasmian Gymnasium and soon changed into an international project with participants from over 15 countries. The project strives to simulate the European Parliament. During his lecture, which was a part of the "Meet the Boss" section, Mr. Syrovatka discussed the Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union.
On November 28, 2018 Ms. Victoria Samson delivered a lecture on "Disruptions to Space Security and Stability" at the American Center. Ms. Samson is the Washington Office Director for the Secure World Foundation (SWF).She introduced SWF‘s latest activities, including their work in evaluating the impact of the increasing number of space actors, commercialization, the rising popularity of small satellites and mega-constellations, and other trends in space security and stability. A video recording of the lecture is available here.
On December 5, the American Center kindly hosted Dr. Vaclav Kobera, the Director of Intelligent Transport Systems, Space Activities and R&D and Innovation Department at the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic. Dr. Kobera discussed the main activities of the Czech Republic in space, including in the context of its membership in the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union (EU). He focused on thespace safety and security portfolio, including its importance to ensuring access to the socio-economic and other benefits derived from space applications.
On December 18, PSSI Senior Fellow, Dr. Martina Smuclerova, delivered a lecture on "Law and Space Security" at Charles University in Prague. Dr. Smuclerova presented the general legal framework of space activities, with a focus on space security norms. Particular attention was devoted to security issues and legal limits to peaceful uses of outer space.
On February 13, 2019, PSSI organized a public roundtable entitled "How to Secure Key Sectors of the Economics Against Risk Investments?" at the American Center. The roundtable presented risks associated with non-standard economic behaviour of foreign powers and provided insights into the development of the EU FDI screening framework. It also explained the Czech Republic's current policy position. Among the speakers were Pavel Fischer, member of the Senate and Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security; and Ota Simak, Deputy Director, Trade Policy Unit, Ministry of Industry and Trade. PSSI's program director Petr Lang took on the role of the moderator.
PSSI COMMEMORATED THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF NATO WITH A PUBLIC ROUNDTABLE
PSSI organized a public debate about NATO on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Alliance.
The opening remarks were delivered by the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Stephen B. King and by the Head of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Prague Matthias Barner.
Diplomat Veronika Kuchynova Smigolova (Director of the Americas Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and journalist Daniel Anyz (Aktualne.cz) discussed the challenges and opportunities for the transatlantic partnership in the 21st century. The discussion was moderated by Martin Svarovsky, Director of the Security Strategies Program at the European Values Think-Tank.
