Matej Kandrík graduated from the Security and Strategic Studies at the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. Since 2015, he has been an editor in chief of security-related website On War | On Peace dedicated to strategic thinking, modern warfare and contemporary security issues. Previously he conducted field research and study visit at War Studies University in Warsaw, Poland. His research interests cover paramilitarism, strategic communication, propaganda, and strategic thinking. He also worked as an analyst at the fact-checking project Demagog.cz in 2012 – 2015. He contributes to various Czech and Slovak media.

Kristína is a student of Security & Strategic Studies and International Relations at Masaryk University in Brno. Her primary focus lies in the field of cybersecurity and cyber defence. She also addresses the phenomenon of information and psychological warfare. She undertook an internship at the Foreign Policy Department at the Office of the President of the Slovak Republic. Besides figuring in STRATPOL she has been a senior analyst in a fact-checking project Demagog.sk and a editor-in-chief of CyberSec.sk portal. She also contributes to Security Outlines portal.

Matúš graduated from Masaryk University in Brno, the Czech Republic in 2017 with a Master`s degree in Security and Strategic Studies. He is a security analyst with a primary focus on the Turkish region and experience in field research of terrorism and insurgency in Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan undertaken during his studies of political science and international relations at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2015 he was a research intern at the Institute for Security and Defense Studies (IBOS) in Bratislava. He contributes to numerous Slovak and Czech media.

Samuel holds a Master’s degree in Security and Strategic Studies from Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. In his research, he focuses on strategic theory and strategic history. He has authored several scientific papers examining the character and nature of contemporary warfare. He also co-authored one monograph dealing with the historical evolution of operational concepts titled Development of Operational Concepts: History and Contemporary Practice. He has written extensively on various blogs and websites about the utility of military history for the understanding of contemporary warfare. He cooperates on a long-term basis with the University of Defense in Brno and he also regularly takes part in projects led by various think-tanks where he analyses contemporary conflicts and documents related to military policy. In autumn of 2018, he has started his Ph.D. research in which he combines insights from strategic theory and strategic history to cast light on contemporary strategic practice.

Katarína Kondrótová holds a Master’s degree in Security Studies from Charles University in Prague, where she is working towards a second degree in International Relations. She graduated from the University’s Geopolitical Summer School, and the Cybersecurity Academy organized by Prague Security Studies Institute. In 2018, she took part in an internship at the Czech Development Agency. In her research, she examines the impact of new technologies on conflicts, the role of culture in state behavior, and topics from the intersection of international relations and other social science disciplines. She contributes to Infosecurity.sk and the Digital Infospace Security Initiative.

Matej is a student of International Relations at Central European University in Vienna. In 2020, he completed a study and work stay in New York. He received his bachelor’s degree at Comenius University in the field of European Studies. During his studies, he gained experience in state institutions, including internships at the Department of Strategic Communication of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Office of State Secretary Robert Ondrejcsák at the Ministry of Defense, the Foreign Policy Department in the Office of the President, and also at the Permanent Mission of the Slovak Republic to the UN in New York. Matej currently works with the NGOs SSPI and Stratpol.

Peter Dubóczi graduated from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia in 2019 with Master’s degree in Political Science. Currently, he is an internal doctoral student at the Department of Political Science at the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, with focus on political philosophy and international relations. In 2019 he worked as a fact-checker for the Demagog.sk portal. He is currently devoting his research to the topics of cognitive security, hybrid threats and national populism. As an analyst he contributes to Infosecurity.sk. Within the academic field, he focuses mainly on issues and paradoxes of an open society and liberal democracy within the context of international relations. He is interested in the significance and influence of facts and information, but also in the threats of their manipulation. He published several scientific papers concerning national populism and concept of freedom of speech.

Dr. Vladimir Đorđević is a Research Fellow at Strategic Policy Institute and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Territorial Studies at Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies of Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno, where he did his M.A. and Ph.D. studies. He earned his B.A. degree at Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, and was a Visiting Researcher at East Central European Center at Columbia University in the city of New York, US, in mid-2013. He specializes in the Western Balkans, European Integration, US Foreign Policy, and Human Rights.

Dr. Maryna Vorotnyuk is an expert working on security developments in the Black Sea region, Ukrainian and Turkish foreign policies, Southern Caucasus. She is a member of a board of Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian prism”. Currently, she works as a visiting lecturer at the Department of Political Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. From 2006 until 2015, she was affiliated with the Ukrainian leading think tank – National Institute for Strategic Studies that is providing expertise for Ukrainian decision-makers. She has a profound teaching experience – lecturing courses on Diplomacy in International Humanitarian University (Odessa) and Theories of international relations and Conflict studies in Odessa Mechnikov National University where she was a research fellow of the Center for International Studies (2006-2013). Dr. Vorotnyuk has taken part in numerous programs and fellowships, namely EU Eastern Partnership Civil Society Fellowships (launched by European Commission in 2016), High Level Experts Program of the German Foreign Office (2015), National Security Policymaking Institute of the US State Department (2013), Black Sea Young Reformers Fellowship of the Black Sea Trust of the GMF and Robert Bosch Stiftung (2012), Peace Research Course of Oslo University (2007) etc. She is an author of numerous publications in her field. Her Ph.D. dissertation (2013) was dealing with the application of the critical security theories to the foreign policy of Turkey.

Colonel Jozef Zekucia (Ret.) is currently a Director General – National Armaments Director at the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic. Previously, he served as the commander of the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) in Slovakia. He was in service in the Slovak (previously Czechoslovak) army from 1989 until 2018 on numerous logistical positions. In 2013-2014, he served as a Liaison Officer to Turkish Forces UNFICYP Headquarters on Cyprus; in 2010, he assumed command of the 16th Slovak Contingent in Operation KFOR, Kosovo. From August 2007 to February 2008, he was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation ISAF, during his service on Allied Land Component Command Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany in 2005-2008. Col. Zekucia holds a Master Degree in Military Economics – Fuel Provision. His military education includes Junior Command and Staff Officers᾽ Course, Senior Command and Staff Officers᾽ Course at the Armed Forces Academy of General Milan Rastislav Stefanik in Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia; Defence and Operational Planning Course (DOPC) at Netherlands Defence College in The Hague, Netherlands and various courses at NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany. He is married to Slavka and has two daughters Julia and Sonia, and a son Jozef. He enjoys travelling and fishing.

Dr. Richard Q. Turcsányi received a Ph.D. in international relations from Masaryk University, where he also studied economy and political science. In the past, he conducted long-term study and research stays at University of Toronto, Peking University, National Chengchi University in Taipei and European Institute for Asian Studies in Brussels. In Slovakia, he has been active in Demagog.SK as Senior Analyst and Project Coordinator and as the Deputy Director in Institute of Asian Studies. Currently, he is a Senior researcher at Palacky University Olomouc and Program Director at our partner organisation Central European Institute of Asian Studies. He is also an Assistant Professor at Mendel University in Brno and Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague. Richard has broad experience with lecturing on international relations, security, and economic issues of Central Europe and East Asia. In his academic research, he focuses mostly on Central Europe’s relations with East Asia and Chinese foreign policy.

Dr. Robert Ondrejcsák holds PhD. in International Relations, MA in Political Science, History and Philosophy. Between 2016 and 2020, he served as the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic. In 2012-2016, he acted as a director of the Centre for European and North Atlantic Affairs (CENAA). On the professional basis of CENAA Dr. Ondrejcsák estabilished a new think-tank in 2016, the STRATPOL – Strategic Policy Institute. In 2010-2012, Dr. Ondrejcsák was State Secretary/Deputy Minister of Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, where he led the process of Strategic Defence Review, preparation of White Book on Defence and the Armed Forces reform. Dr. Ondrejcsák was also responsible for security policy, NATO and EU issues, as well as international multilateral and bilateral cooperation. In 2007-2010 he was a Director of Center for European and North Atlantic Affairs and lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations at Matej Bel University.
Previously Dr. Ondrejcsák was a Director of the Institute for Security and Defence Studies (research centre of the Slovak Ministry of Defence), he also served as a Counsellor and Deputy Chief of the Mission of the Slovak Embassy to Hungary, as well as Foreign and Security Policy advisor to Vice-Chairman of the Slovak Parliament, advisor of the NATO Department at the Slovak Ministry of Defence and analyst of the Slovak Centre for Strategic Studies. Dr. Ondrejcsák is a co-founder and co-editor of Panorama of global security environment (listed by Thompson Reuters Science Citation Index). He is author and editor of numerous publications about international relations and security policy, most recently ,,Ukraine, Central Europe and the future of European security” also co-edited and co-authored by Grigoriy Perepelitsa of Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine (in 2016), NATO´s future operations (2014, CENAA-George Marshall Center, Garmisch Partenkirchen) co-edited and co-authored with Matthew Rhodes, Introduction to Security Studies (university textbook for Georgian Defence Academy in Gori, 2014) and NATO´s future partnership (2012, CENAA-PISM), co-edited and co-authored with Beate Górka-Winter, as well as Security sector reform action plan for Georgia. Robert Ondrejcsák led NATO Science for Peace projects, and also has long-term engagement in transition and security sector reform projects, activities and consultancy, with focus on Ukraine and Georgia. With the late Alexander Rondeli of GFSIS he founded the annual South Caucasus Security Forum in Tbilisi, the leading foregin policy and security conference of the South Caucasus. He is lecturer at several universities, occasionally also at the George C. Marshall Center at Garmisch Partenkirchen (on Armed Forces reform, Security Sector Reform, Strategic Defence Review), and member of advisory board of journals in Slovakia and abroad.