or see an executive summary of the briefing paper.
or see an executive summary of the briefing paper.
or see an executive summary of the briefing paper.
WESTERN BALKANS AT THE CROSSROADS:
WAYS FORWARD IN ANALYZING EXTERNAL ACTORS' INFLUENCE
BASIC INFORMATION
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Project duration: 10/2019 – 03/2021
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Project manager: Barbora Chrzová, chrzova@pssi.cz
- Project coordinators
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Petr Čermák, cermak@pssi.cz
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Anja Grabovac, grabovac@pssi.cz
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Scientific advisor: Prof. Ioannis Armakolas
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The project team consists of twelve junior and senior researchers from within the region with multidisciplinary scholarly backgrounds.
“Western Balkans at the Crossroads: Ways Forward in Analyzing External Actors' Influence,” run by the PSSI, is a follow-up project that aims to build upon a knowledge base established in the preceding project “Western Balkans at the Crossroads: Assessing Non-Democratic External Influence Activities ,” which mapped, analyzed and publicized Russian, Chinese, Turkish, and Gulf
State influence activities in the region.
The second project’s phase focuses on in-depth socially rooted research and investigative journalism. Its design reflects the aim to go beyond conventional analytical frameworks, overcoming ideologically constructed stereotypes and methodological nationalism, while combining a variety of methodological approaches from security studies to visual anthropology.
The principal research topics focus on geopolitics and fading democracy discourses and perceptions, policy making and business as well as illiberal leverage in the Western Balkan societies.
PLANNED PROJECT ACTIVITIES
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15 analytical studies & 15 journalistic articles (currently in progress)
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A final publication summarising the major observations from the analytical studies and providing policy recommendations
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A concluding conference to be held in Prague
KICK-OFF WORKSHOP
Belgrade, January 27-28, 2020
To support launching of the second phase of the project "Western Balkans at the Crossroads: Ways Forward in Analyzing External Actors’ Influence", a two-day workshop was organised in Belgrade on January 27-28 2020. The workshop brought together the project team which allowed to share the best practices of conducting research on foreign influences in the region and its further development. Moreover, during the workshop the researchers presented research proposals of their studies and also took part in an interactive journalist training as the dissemination of knowledge is a key element of our work.
