Ivana Smoleňová

My name is Ivana Smolenova and I previously studied corporate economics at the University of Economics in Prague. This was a meaningful experience, but I never saw myself working in business. In 2011, I took a gap semester to teach English in a remote village in the Nepali Himalayas. This was a life-changing experience that made me realize how democracy and free-market have impacted my region and how fortunate I was to be born here. During my studies I interned at organizations that aim to improve our society through research and projects, such as Aspen Institute Prague, Center of European Studies, Forum 2000 and R.W.R Advisory Group and decided that I want to pursue my career in non-governmental sector. Three years ago I devoted my career to the study of Kremlin’s soft power, especially its use of propaganda. Why? Because I believe it will remain a great security threat for the democratic development in the Czech Republic and surrounding countries for years to come. Since 2012 I have worked for the Prague Security Studies Institute where I published the first study that sheds light on sources of pro-Russian propaganda in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I frequently give lectures at universities (Charles, Masaryk), speak at public events (e.g Respekt Debates), publish articles (Forbes, Dennik N, StopFake etc.), do interviews and work with regional initiatives that counter Russian propaganda. My ultimate aim is to fully understand the complexity of how Kremlin impacts policy-making, national strategies and particularly societies and media in Central Europe. Thanks to the generous scholarship from the Bakala Foundation I will study International Security Policy with specialization on Russia at the prestigious Columbia University. This will allow me to pursue a very unique program and study area that I am deeply passionate about.