Cold War Research Group

02/10/2026

🌍 COLD WAR RESEARCH GROUP SEMINAR SERIES — WINTER 2026/27

How did the Cold War shape journalism in Africa, youth internationalism in Chile, academic expertise on Vietnam, and relations between the Eastern Bloc and the Andean countries?
Join us for four seminars exploring the global dimensions of the Cold War — with a particular focus on actors, institutions and connections beyond the two superpowers. 🌎

📅 7 October 2026
📰 Journalism’s Cold War: The Impact of the IFJ and the IOJ on the Development of the Press in Africa (1946–1975)
Maria Laura Scifo — University of Cagliari

📅 4 November 2026
🎓 Chile, World Youth Capital: Convergence and Entanglement in Student and Youth Internationalism, 1960–1961
Manuel Suzarte — Alberto Hurtado University

📅 2 December 2026
📚 Creating Socialist Expertise: The Institutionalization of Vietnamese Studies in Czechoslovakia in the Early 1960s
Barbora Nováková — Charles University

📅 6 January 2027
🌐 From the Iron Curtain to the Equator: Eastern Bloc Cooperation and Confrontations in the Andean Countries (1948–69)
Maroš Timko — FU Berlin

📍 Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague — Room 302B
💻 Or online
🕠 17:30 CET
🗣️ Language: English
📩 Registration is required for each seminar:
[email protected]

🔗 More information and the full programme: https://cenmas.ff.cuni.cz/2026/09/29/invitation-join-cold-war-research-group-seminar-series-in-winter-semester-2026/

CWRG invites you to its winter semester seminar series, bringing together new research on the global dimensions of the Cold War. The four seminars explore how

08/06/2026

📚🌍 Last week, another Cold War Research Group (CWRG) seminar took place!

We were delighted to welcome Michele Mioni from Ca' Foscari University of Venice, who presented his ongoing research entitled:

“At the Foundations of Adult and Workers' Education Worldwide, 1945–1960: The Cooperation between International Organisations and the Reformist Labour Movement.”

🗺️ The presentation offered fascinating insights into the origins of global adult and workers' education after the Second World War and explored the cooperation between international organisations and the reformist labour movement.

💬 A big thank you to Michele for his inspiring talk and to everyone who joined the discussion.

As this was the final CWRG seminar of the current academic year, we would like to thank all our speakers and participants for making this year's series such a success. We look forward to welcoming you back for a new round of seminars in the next academic year! ✨👏

19/05/2026

🇪🇺📚 We warmly invite you to a lecture by Michele Mioni from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice 🇮🇹

His research focuses on the political and intellectual foundations of the “European Social Model,” its role in visions of European integration after 1989, and the tensions between the welfare state, globalization, and the European Union project.

🗣️ In addition, one day before on the 3 May, Michele Mioni will also present his work at the CWRG seminar.

📍Join us for what promises to be a fascinating discussion on Europe’s social and political transformations!

Co se stalo s představou „sociální Evropy“? 🇪🇺

Zveme vás na přednášku Michele Mioniho z Ca’ Foscari University v Benátkách, jehož výzkum se zaměřuje na politické a intelektuální základy „evropského sociálního modelu“, jeho roli v představách evropské integrace po roce 1989 i napětí mezi sociálním státem, globalizací a projektem EU.

🤔 Může dnes Evropská unie ještě naplňovat přísliby solidarity a sociální ochrany v době ekonomických krizí a globalizace? A proč je myšlenka společného evropského sociálního modelu v posledních letech stále více zpochybňována?

🎤 Po přednášce bude následovat diskuze.

🗓️ 4. 6. 2026 | 16:00
📍 hlavní budova FF UK, místnost 209
🌐 Akce proběhne v angličtině.

🎟️ Registrace https://1url.cz/
⚠️ Kapacita omezená.

Akci pořádá Cold War Research Group FF UK ve spolupráci s Areálová studia FF UK , který podporuje rozvoj výzkumu a výuky areálových studií na FF UK.

12/05/2026

📚🌍 At our May CWRG seminar, Diego Alexander Romero Pavez (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) presented his paper: “Red Tractors” for the Popular Unity’s Agrarian Reform (1970–1973): Eastern Europe Cooperation in the Chilean Revolution. 🚜

The presentation explored the transnational dimensions of Chile’s agrarian reform and the role of Eastern European cooperation during the period of Salvador Allende and the Popular Unity government. 🇨🇱🤝🌐

Many thanks for an inspiring discussion! ✨

17/03/2026

🌍 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!

05/03/2026

📚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!

26/02/2026

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

28/01/2026

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].

21/01/2026

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! 🥳👏

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.

18/12/2025

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!