Cold War Research Group

🌍 Last week, a CENTRAL workshop on “(Post)colonialism and Race in Central and Eastern Europe” took place in Warsaw. 👩‍🎓🧑‍🎓

The event was organized by the University of Warsaw, the University of Vienna, ELTE Budapest, and Univerzita Karlova, bringing together researchers working on colonial, postcolonial, and race-related perspectives in the region.

Members of the CWRG — Mikuláš Pešta, Jan Koura, and Vojtěch Šimák — also presented their research at the workshop.

The workshop examines how postcolonial and critical race perspectives can be applied to the historical and contemporary experiences of Central and Eastern Europe.

👏 Thank you to the organizers for an inspiring and productive meeting!

📚At the second CWRG seminar this semester, we had the pleasure of welcoming Timothy Schürmann from the University of Fribourg 🇨🇭.

He presented part a chapter from his dissertation entitled “The Early Cold War in Student Internationalism: The Case of the Swiss Student Union.”

💬 Thank you, Timothy, for a very interesting presentation and the stimulating discussion that followed!

Jan Koura spent two weeks at Jimma University in Ethiopia, where he delivered lectures and workshops on the history of international relations, and transnational history.

The visit built on the existing partnership between Univerzita Karlova and Jimma University and the Memorandum of Understanding between both institutions signed last year. 🤝👇👇

🌍 I Afrika je součástí mezinárodní spolupráce FF UK. Doc. Jan Koura, dr. Radek Buben a dr. Vojtěch Šarše vyjeli na Jimma University v Etiopii, kde vedli přednášky a workshopy z politologie, dějin mezinárodních vztahů i subsaharských literatur.

Pobyt navázal na dosavadní partnerství obou univerzit a memorandum o porozumění podepsané v minulém roce. 🤝

https://www.ff.cuni.cz/2026/02/akademici-ff-uk-prednaseli-a-konzultovali-na-etiopske-jimma-university/

Centrum afrických studií FF UK, Ústav historie FF UK, Iberoamerikanistika FFUK, Areálová studia FF UK

The new semester of our research seminar starts already next week and we have a terrific line-up!
If you are interested in participating (either in person or online), please send an e-mail at [email protected].

We are delighted to announce that Jan Koura, Head of CWRG, has won the Vasileios Fouskas and Bülent Gökay Best Article of the Year Award for his article, “In the Service of the Eastern Bloc: Czechoslovak Intelligence and the Cyprus Conflict, 1974–1989”, published last year in the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies. 🇨🇾🇨🇿

Congratulations on this extraordinary achievement! 🥳👏

Vasileios Fouskas and Bülent Gökay Best Article of the Year Award in the Study of International Economics, Politics and History of the Balkans and the Near East Explore the article collection: Vasileios Fouskas and Bülent Gökay Best Article of the Year Award in the Study of International Economics, Politics and History of the Balkans and the Near East. Published in Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies.

Maroš Timko, one of our most active members, just published his new book in Spanish in Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales. The book is a revised version of his PhD thesis defended three years ago and concerns with the Czechoslovak-Spanish relations in the early Cold War, including the role of the Spanish Communist Party. Congratulations!

Leo Lukas Stauber at our first seminar this semester. A nice presentation and discussion on the scandal that erupted in Austria when Steyr made an arms deal with Pinochet's Chile. Congratulations on your work, Leo!

Our research seminar is back after the summer and once again, we have a great line-up of presentations.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Mikuláš Pešta at [email protected].

Both in-person and online participation is possible.

Prague as a Cold War City and its Global Entanglements
On 23-24 September, the Historical Institute will host this workshop, co-organized by the Institute of Contemporary History and the Cold War Research Group.
A group of international scholars will explore various topics regarding Prague's global entanglements during the Cold War. A keynote lecture will be delivered by Geoffrey Roberts (University College Cork).
The workshop is open to the public!
Full program here: https://www.hiu.cas.cz/udalosti/prague-as-a-cold-war-city-and-its-global-entanglements