Presidential Briefing: U.S. Elections

The Center for Transatlantic Relations, VŠ CEVRO, hosted a discussion with advisors to President P. Pavel

Presidential Briefing: U.S. Elections

• Jan Macháček, President of the Strategeo Institute
• Tomáš Petříček, Director of the Progressive Analytical Center
• Michael Žantovský, Senior Fellow, Center for Transatlantic Relations, VŠ CEVRO

The discussion will take place on Thursday, November 7, at 5:00 PM, in the atrium of VŠ CEVRO, Jungmannova 28/17.

Speaker Profiles

Jan Macháček is the President of the Strategeo Institute and a member of President Petr Pavel’s advisory group on foreign policy. From 2015 to 2024, he served as the chairman of the board of the Institute for Politics and Society. He was also chairman of the board of the Václav Havel Library and contributed significantly to its program from 2011 to 2015. A commentator for Lidové noviny and a co-founder and deputy editor-in-chief of Respekt, he has completed fellowships in the U.S., including at the National Forum Foundation (1994) and the University of Michigan (1998). In the 1980s, he was an active dissident, signing Charter 77 and participating in independent publishing initiatives.

Tomáš Petříček is the Director of the Progressive Analytical Center and a member of President Petr Pavel’s advisory group on foreign policy. He also works with the Center for Global Political Economy at the Institute of International Relations. From 2018 to 2021, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, preceded by roles as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (2018) and Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (2017). He has worked as an advisor to a Member of the European Parliament and taught international political economy at Charles University’s Faculty of Social Sciences. He was also part of the Young Academic Network under the Foundation for European Progressive Studies.

Michael Žantovský is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, a scholar at VŠ CEVRO, and a member of President Petr Pavel’s advisory group on foreign policy. A translator, interpreter, psychologist, journalist, writer, lyricist, politician, and diplomat, he has served as the Czech Republic’s ambassador to the U.S. (1992–1997), Israel (2003–2009), and the UK (2009–2015). From September 2015 to May 2023, he was the director of the Václav Havel Library. He chaired the board of the Aspen Institute Prague from 2012 and has been its honorary chairman since 2019. A founding member of Civic Forum in 1989, he served as its spokesperson, later becoming press secretary and advisor to President Václav Havel.

Thank you for your participation!