Programme

We have long considered the great conventional war in Europe a question of the past. Why did Putin's Russia take such a step? What are the ideological pillars of the current Russian regime and how do the Russian power elites think?

The book The End of the Russian World? On the Ideological Sources of Russian Aggression, published in Polish by Teologia Polityczna at the end of 2022 and published in Czech by Books & Pipes in a translation by Josef Mlejnek, is an attempt to look into the transformation of the Russian government narrative in recent years. It is an eyewitness account of the whole process, firmly anchored in the historical context of Russian history and the development of Russian self-perception.

The Czech philosopher and statesman T. G. Masaryk had no doubts about Czech Europeanism and the Czechs' belonging to Western civilization. Nevertheless, he dialogically struggled with Russian culture and political thought, reflecting on the problematic concept of so-called "Slavism" and the civilizational otherness of the West and the East. What is still inspiring about Masaryk's thought in this respect? And what has long since been overcome? Why is it necessary to fear the mental invasion of the aggressive "Russian world" into the Czech and Central European environment?

Martin Groman and Michal Stehlik's historical podcast Přepište dějiny (Rewrite History) will focus on T. G. Masaryk's relationship with Russia. He was one of the few Czech politicians who knew Russia well and was devoted to it both politically and culturally. It will touch not only on his relations with Tolstoy, but also on his view of the Bolshevik Revolution and the Czechoslovak approach to the Russian emigration.