In the wake of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the position of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the security architecture of the EU has become crucial. However, the voice of security research from the region is not well represented in security debates on the European and global level. The International Institute of Political Science (IIPS) of Masaryk University (MUNI) is perfectly positioned to address this disbalance, with its unique expertise of CEE in terms of area studies and outreach to policy sector. In recent years, the IIPS, research centre operating at the Faculty of Social Studies (FSS), has achieved significant improvements in terms of publication output and ability to attract national funding. However, its academic and practical impact has yet to gain a significantly international dimension. By twinning with leading European research centres in security studies, we seek to integrate the IIPS in international networks and increase its ability to obtain international grants, especially Horizon Europe (HE).
Our goal is to create a Central and Eastern European Security Cooperation Cluster (CENTREPEACE) based at the IIPS at Masaryk University. The cluster will develop the excellence, reputation and competitiveness of the IIPS in partnership with the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and Aleksanteri Institute (Aleksanteri) at the University of Helsinki (UoH). Full inclusion of IIPS into the European community of security research will contribute to the recognition of CEE perspectives in security discussions, thus making the security debates on both academic and applied level richer and more balanced. As Russia has two European neighbouring regions, Central and Eastern Europe and the Nordic region, the developed approaches will be rooted in first-hand empirical evidence and allow for impact in the study of security cooperation. The cooperation of IIPS with leading research centres in the Nordic region will strengthen its expertise in security research and area studies via mutual cross-fertilization and cumulative impact on European academic and policy discussions.