This analysis seeks to identify key stakeholders involved in the public debate around the Istanbul Convention and its framing. The analytical report provides practical communication recommendations with the aim of fostering a more balanced public debate about the Istanbul Convention. The outputs are based on semi-structured expert interviews with the government's Human Rights Commissioner, a representative of the media, the non-governmental sector and a legal expert. The analysis is available in both English and Czech. 

PSSI’s newest Perspective takes on the proposed IPO of SHEIN, the fast-fashion giant faced with a litany of allegations. We find that SHEIN has either concealed its practices or willfully misled consumers and lawmakers in the U.S. and EU regarding its record on human rights, workers' rights, environmental damage, consumer product toxicity levels, and customs regulations. It has been demonstrably and repeatedly linked to forced labor from the Xinjiang Province in China, faces a multitude of criminal allegations, and has demonstrated a repeated failure to protect workers and consumers. 

PSSI's research reveals a regulatory crisis in global finance: American investment funds have been funneled into Chinese companies which bolster and support Iran’s rogue activities. This report highlights 40 such companies, which cumulatively enjoy U.S.-based investments valued at over $6 billion. This alarming relationship, driven by major U.S. asset managers like Vanguard, State Street, and Dimensional, demonstrates how Western funds are inadvertently supporting Iran's role as a principal state sponsor of terror. 
 

The primary goals of strategic communication comprise from both an informative role for domestic and international audiences regarding the nation’s values, identity, capabilities, and actions, as well as a strategic security aspect to monitor, analyze, and respond to international political developments to enhance the nation’s position and avert potentially destabilizing actions from adversaries.

Slovakia finds itself grappling with a number of consecutive crises that extend beyond the bounds of the health system, geopolitics, and energy issues. The overarching political instability in the region, compounded by the enduring challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, and energy concerns, was exacerbated by an internal political crisis that led to the fall of the Slovak government in December 2022 and subsequent snap election that took place recently. The political instability, accompanied by decades-long corruption, created a corrosive effect of alarmingly low trust in government institutions, media, and even democracy. These issues have created a particularly challenging environment for strategic communication. As a consequence, the impact of governmental communication on its priority issue areas has, so far, been minimal, despite the development of strategic communication units and initiatives under a national conceptual framework.

The Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) has analyzed the financial background of disinformation in the Czech Republic since 2020. Research on disinformation usually focuses on its content, but often overlooks the financial aspects and the variety of motivations behind the spread of disinformation. Knowledge concerning these aspects is crucial for employing effective tools for countering disinformation and building a healthy information space with resilient audiences. The present report demonstrates that disinformation can be a financially profitable business and defunding should be explored as a counter-strategy to malign information activities.

Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) analyzuje finanční pozadí dezinformací v České republice od roku 2020. Výzkum v oblasti dezinformací se obvykle zaměřuje na jejich obsah, často však přehlíží jejich finanční aspekty a rozmanitost motivací pro šíření dezinformací. Znalost těchto aspektů je klíčová pro výběr účinných nástrojů na potírání dezinformací a pro budování zdravého informačního prostoru s odolným publikem. Tato analýza dokazuje, že dezinformace mohou být ziskový byznys a demonetizace by se měla přezkoumat jako protistrategie k škodlivým informačním aktivitám.

This final report offers the results of Prague Security Studies Institute's latest research on democratic backsliding in the Western Balkans and Croatia (an EU member state), conducted between fall 2022 and spring 2023.