Jan Železný, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Jan Železný serves as Executive Director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies (CAPS) and as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at CEVRO University in Prague. He is a graduate of the bachelor’s degree program in Political Science and the master’s degree program in International Relations at the Faculty of Arts of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, where he also completed his doctoral studies (Ph.D.) in International Relations. His research focuses on transformations of the international order, power competition between the United States, China, and other major powers in the Asia-Pacific region and the Arctic, astropolitics (the geopolitics of outer space), and the geopolitics of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
He regularly participates in international conferences such as the British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS) and the Joint East Asian Studies Conference (JEASC), held at prestigious universities including Oxford and King's College London. He is also involved in international research teams and contributed chapters to Routledge Handbook of Chinese and Eurasian International Studies (2024) and Routledge Handbook of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Eurasia (2025).
He is a frequent contributor to Czech media outlets including Info.cz, E15, and Týden.cz. In the past, he worked in the Czech Chamber of Deputies as a parliamentary assistant and foreign policy advisor. He speaks English and Russian and is learning German and Spanish.
Research Interests:
- Formation of international order and great power strategies (hedging focus)
- U.S.-China-India relations in the Asia-Pacific
- Space geopolitics (focus on China and Russia)
- Arctic geopolitics and great power competition
- Geopolitics of the 4th Industrial Revolution (advanced chip supply chains)
Selected Publications:
- Železný, Jan – Michlmayr, Timna (2025): China’s Starry Constellations with Russia and the Global South: The Space Silk Road Analysed. In: Sahakyan, Mher (ed.): Routledge Handbook of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Eurasia. Routledge. London.
- Železný, Jan (2024): The Dragon and the Bear on the Polar Silk Road – The Analysis of the China-Russia Cooperation in the Arctic and Its Impact on the Great-Power Competition in the High North. In: Sahakyan, Mher (ed.): Routledge Handbook of Chinese and Eurasian International Relations. Routledge. London.
- Železný, Jan (2022): More than just hedging? The reactions of Cambodia and Vietnam to the power struggle between the United States and China in times of Obama’s „pivot to Asia“. Asian Politics and Policy. Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 216–248.
Zdeněk Rod, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow / Head of Research
Zdeněk Rod has been an assistant professor at the Department of Security Studies at CEVRO University since 2025. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the John Lukacs Institute for Strategy and Politics (University of Public Service, Budapest) and Co-Director of the Center for Security Consulting. He earned his Ph.D. in International Relations at the University of West Bohemia (2024) and has studied in Ljubljana, Budapest, and at the European Security and Defence College in Brussels.
He previously worked at the Czech Ministry of Defence and published extensively in journals and books from Oxford University Press, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, Routledge, and Palgrave Macmillan. His commentaries appear in RAND Corporation, SAIS Review of International Affairs, Defence News, and The Diplomat.
Research Interests:
- International and national security
- Strategic communication
- China in international relations
Selected Publications:
- Rod, Zdeněk eds. (2025). Navigating the Silk Road in Central and Eastern Europe. In: Mher Sahakyan – Kevin Lo, Routledge Handbook of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Eurasia (London: Routledge).
- Rod, Zdeněk (2025). From Promises to Perils: Unpacking China’s Interference in the Visegrad Group. In Lucie Tungul, Battle for Democracy in the Digital Age (Brussells: Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies): p. 87–97.
- Rod, Zdeněk eds. (2025). Ten years of the Belt and Road Initiative: What’s changed? Observing China. Council on Geostrategy (https://www.observingchina.org.uk/p/the-tangram-03-2025).
- Rod, Zdeněk (2024). Debt or Diplomacy? Inside China’s Controversial Loans to Sri Lanka, Laos, and Malaysia. The Diplomat, 5. 10. 2024 (https://thediplomat.com/2024/10/debt-or-diplomacy-inside-chinas-controversial-loans-to-sri-lanka-laos-and-malaysia/).
- Rod, Zdeněk – Himmer, Michal (2023). Chinese debt trap diplomacy: reality or myth? Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, Vol. 18. No. 3, pp. 250–272.
- Rod, Zdeněk (2023). The Chinese Influence in Visegrad Countries, in: Andrea Bogoni and Brian F. G. Fabrègue, eds., The Dragon at the Gates of Europe: Chinese Presence in the Balkans and Central-Eastern Europe, Blue Europe, Dec 2023: p. 273-298.
- Rod, Zdeněk – Himmer, Michal (2021). The Great Powers’ Competition in Central America. The Response of the U.S. to Chinese Activities in the Region. Latin American Policy, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 236–249.
- Rod, Zdeněk – Himmer, Michal (2020). The Motivation of Diplomatic Switch of Selected States Newly Recognizing China Within the China-Taiwan Rivalry. Czech Journal of International Relations, Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 50–68.
Roman Kodet, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
He serves as a university lecturer at the Department of Historical Sciences, Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia in Plzeň. His research focuses on the history of Japan, international politics, and military history of the 19th and 20th centuries. He studied history at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, where he defended his dissertation on the relations between Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire (2012). Since 2009, he has been teaching at the University of West Bohemia, where he founded the Center for Japanese Studies in 2018.
He is the author of numerous scholarly and popular works. Among his most significant publications are the monographs Wars of the Samurai (2015), The Story of the Samurai (2018; second edition 2024), and The Twilight of the Samurai(2024). His works have earned him the Miroslav Ivanov Award three times. He also serves as Executive Editor of the West Bohemian Historical Review and, in 2021, led a project supported by the Japan Foundation.
Selected Publications:
- KODET, Roman, The Japanese Invasion of Formosa, 1874, in the Context of the International Relations in the Far East. In: The International History Review 47, 2025, s. 1–18.
- KODET, Roman, First British Travelers and Residents in Japan: Sources and Perspectives of Research. In: Zbornik radova Filozofskog fakulteta u Splitu/ Journal of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split 17, 2024, pp. 161–178.
- KODET, Roman, Soumrak samurajů. Válka, velmoci, revoluce a vznik moderního Japonka (1850–1880), Praha 2024.
- KODET, Roman, Příběh samurajů. Život a svět válečníků starého Japonska, Praha 2018.
- SKŘIVAN, Aleš Sr., SKŘIVAN, Aleš Jr., NOVOTNÝ, Lukáš, KOČVAR, Jan, KODET, Roman, Hra o Říši středu. Politické a hospodářské zájmy Velké Británie a Německa v Číně, 1894–1914, Praha 2017.
Daniela Finkousová, MPA
Junior Fellow
Daniela Finkousová is a Junior Fellow at CAPS. She holds a BA in Political Science and International Relations from CEVRO University and is completing her MA in Political Science and postgraduate MPA in Modern Public Administration. Since 2024, she has worked in the Czech Chamber of Deputies as a parliamentary assistant, focusing on legislative analysis and amendment drafting, social media management, and event coordination. She previously worked at think tank e-Stat.cz and completed an internship at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
She contributes to CEVRO Arena, Pravý břeh, and Forum 24, and her focus includes U.S. foreign policy, Asia-Pacific security dynamics, and hybrid threats. She speaks English and German.
Research Interests:
- U.S. foreign/domestic policy (focus on “Trumpism”)
- Strategic competition in Asia-Pacific
- Hybrid and cyber threats
Jan Vavřík
Junior Fellow
Jan Vavřík is a Junior Fellow at CAPS and an analyst for the Security Conference in Pilsen. He produces analytical reports on current international affairs and helps coordinate conferences. He studied International Relations at the University of West Bohemia, focusing on British and American Studies, and later earned a degree in Security Studies.
He has explored the role of technology in global politics — especially blockchain — and his thesis examined the concept of sportswashing. He participated in exchange programs at Osa State University (Kyrgyzstan), University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), and Valdosta State University (USA). In 2024, he interned at the Czech Embassy in Seoul. He speaks fluent English and Croatian, with basic knowledge of French, Russian, and Korean.
Research Interests:
- International security in Asia-Pacific and the transatlantic space
- Emerging technologies in global governance — especially blockchain
Viola Vojtová
Office Administrator
Viola Vojtová is a BA student of Psychology and Management Sociology at the University of Economics and Management (VŠEM). She is particularly interested in intercultural communication and business trends in Europe and Asia. She has gained experience in China and Southeast Asia and has interned in the European Parliament and worked as a business communication trainer for Asian partners. She speaks English, Chinese, and some German.