doc. PhDr. Michal Smetana, Ph.D.

Michal Smetana is an Associate Professor of International Studies at Charles University, Director of the Peace Research Center Prague (PRCP), and Head of the Experimental Lab for International Security Studies (ELISS). Previously, he was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford, a Fulbright Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University, and a Visiting Researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF). He has been the Principal Investigator of several major international grants, including the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. He has been awarded a prestigious Neuron Award for Social Sciences.

Michal Smetana’s main research interests lie at the intersection of security studies, international relations, and political psychology, with a specific focus on nuclear weapons in world politics, military alliances, arms control and disarmament, norm contestation, frozen conflicts, public opinion, and experimental survey methods. His articles have been published in leading academic journals such as  International Studies Quarterly, Security Studies, European Journal of International Relations, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Affairs, Journal of Peace Research, International Studies Review, Contemporary Security Policy, and Research & Politics. He also regularly writes for policy-oriented outlets such as Survival, The Washington Quarterly, War on the Rocks, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He is the author of Nuclear Deviance. Academic website: https://michalsmetana.academic.ws

Monographs

• Smetana M., Ludvík J., Stehlík J., Bahenský V., Svitek F., Zajícová V., Konopásek Š., Lovecký T., & Hrdinová L. (2017). Indirect Coercion : Triangular Strategies and International Conflict. Charles University, Karolinum Press.
• Smetana M. (2020). Nuclear Deviance: Stigma Politics and the Rules of Nonproliferation Game. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Hynek N., & Smetana M. (2016). Global Nuclear Disarmament: Strategic, Political, and Regional Perspectives. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Chapters in monographs

• Smetana M. (2016). Nuclear infrastructure, strategic hedging, and the implications for disarmament. Global Nuclear Disarmament : Strategic, Political, and Regional Perspectives (pp. 44-60).
• Smetana M. (2019). Weapons of Mass Protection? Rogue Asteroids, Nuclear Explosions in Space, and the Norms of Global Nuclear Order. Planetary Defense (pp. 231-244).
• Smetana M. (2021). Nuclear Weapons and Peaceful Change. The Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Change in International Relations (pp. 301-318).
• Hynek N., & Smetana M. (2016). Nuclear disarmament: Prague moments and analytical remarks. Global Nuclear Disarmament: Strategic, Political, and Regional Perspectives (pp. 1-11).
• Ostermann F., Böller F., Christiansen F., Kučmáš K., Onderčo M., & Smetana M. (2021). Voting on the Use of Armed Force: Challenges of Data Indexing, Classification, and the Value of a Comparative Agenda. Research Methods in Defence Studies: A Multidisciplinary Overview (pp. 170-188).

Articles

• Smetana M. (2013). Role jaderných zbraní v bezpečnostní strategii Spojených států ve 21. století. Mezinárodní vztahy, 48(1), 27-49.
• Smetana M. (2014). „Duch Berlína“ v kontextu jaderné politiky USA. Mezinárodní politika, Neuveden(1), nestránkováno.
• Smetana M. (2014). Jaderná politika Spojených států po konci studené války : Vývoj v kontextu proliferace ZHN. Obrana a strategie, 14(1), 39-50.
• Smetana M., & Ditrych O. (2015). The more the merrier: Time for a multilateral turn in nuclear disarmament. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 71(3), 30-37. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M. (2015). Jaderná infrastruktura ve světě bez jaderných zbraní: logika virtuálních arzenálů v kontextu jaderného odzbrojení. Obrana a strategie, 15(1), 19-30.
• Smetana M. (2016). Stuck on disarmament: the European Union and the 2015 NPT Review Conference. International Affaires, 92(1), 137-152. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M. (2020). (De-)stigmatising the Outsider: Nuclear-armed India, United States, and the Global Non-Proliferation Order. Journal of International Relations and Development, 23(3), 535-558. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M. (2018). The Prague Agenda: An Obituary?. New Perspectives, 26(1), 16-22. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M. (2018). A Nuclear Posture Review for the Third Nuclear Age: Patterns of Continuity and Change. The Washington Quarterly, 41(3), 137-157. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., & Ludvík J. (2019). Between war and peace: a dynamic reconceptualization of "frozen conflicts". Asia Europe Journal, 17(1), 1-14. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., & Onderčo M. (2018). Bringing the Outsiders in: Interactionist Perspective on Deviance and Normative Change. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 31(6), 516-536. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., & Ludvík J. (2019). Theorising indirect coercion: The logic of triangular strategies. International Relations, 33(3), 455-474. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., & Ludvík J. (2017). Nuclear proliferation, preventive strikes, and the optimist-pessimist divide. Nonproliferation Review, 23(5-6), 535-536.
• Smetana M. (2014). The Prague Agenda and the Future of Nuclear Arms Control and Disarmament. Mezinárodní politika, Neuveden(12), nestránkováno.
• Smetana M., & Vranka M. (2021). How moral foundations shape public approval of nuclear, chemical, and conventional strikes: new evidence from experimental surveys. International Interactions, 47(2), 374-390. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., & Wunderlich C. (2021). Nonuse of Nuclear Weapons in World Politics: Toward the Third Generation of "Nuclear Taboo" Research. International Studies Review, 23(3), 1072-1099. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., Onderčo M., & Etienne T. (2021). Do Germany and the Netherlands want to say goodbye to US nuclear weapons?. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 77(4), 215-221. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., & O'Mahoney J. (2022). NPT as an antifragile system: How contestation improves the nonproliferation regime. Contemporary Security Policy [online], 43(1), 24-49. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., & Onderčo M. (2023). From Moscow With a Mushroom Cloud? Russian Public Attitudes to the Use of Nuclear Weapons in a Conflict With NATO. JOURNAL OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION, 67(2-3), 183-209. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., Vranka M., & Rosendorf O. (2023). The lesser evil? Experimental evidence on the strength of nuclear and chemical weapon "taboos". CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND PEACE SCIENCE, 40(1), 3-21. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., & Onderčo M. (2022). Elite-Public Gaps in Attitudes to Nuclear Weapons : New Evidence from a Survey of German Citizens and Parliamentarians. International Studies Quarterly, 66(2), 1-10. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., Vranka M., & Rosendorf O. (2024). The “Commitment Trap” Revisited: Experimental Evidence on Ambiguous Nuclear Threats. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 11(1), 64-77. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M. (2025). Microfoundations of domestic audience costs in nondemocratic regimes: Experimental evidence from Putin’s Russia. Journal of Peace Research, 62(2), 278-294. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., Vranka M., & Rosendorf O. (2024). Elite-public gaps in support for nuclear and chemical strikes: New evidence from a survey of British parliamentarians and citizens. Research & Politics, 11(July-September), 1-6. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., & Onderčo M. (2025). "Hope the Russians Love Their Children Too": Russian Public Support for the Use of Nuclear Weapons after the Invasion of Ukraine. The Journal of Global Security Studies, 10(3), 1-20. UT-WOS link
• Smetana M., Vranka M., & Rosendorf O. (2026). Public support for arms control in the third nuclear age: cross-national survey and elite cues experiment in NATO countries. European Journal of International Relations, 32(1), 30-58. UT-WOS link
• Rosendorf O., Smetana M., Vranka M., & Dahlmann A. (2026). Mind over Metal: Public Opinion on Autonomous Weapons in the United States, Brazil, Germany, and China. International Studies Quarterly, 70(1), 1-11. UT-WOS link
• Rosendorf O., Smetana M., & Vranka M. (2024). Algorithmic Aversion? Experimental Evidence on the Elasticity of Public Attitudes to "Killer Robots". Security Studies, 33(1), 115-145. UT-WOS link
• Onderčo M., Smetana M., & Etienne T. (2023). Hawks in the making? European public views on nuclear weapons post-Ukraine. Global Policy, 14(2), 305-317. UT-WOS link
• Rosendorf O., Smetana M., & Vranka M. (2022). Autonomous weapons and ethical judgments : Experimental evidence on attitudes toward the military use of 'killer robots'. Peace and Conflict, 28(2), 177-183. UT-WOS link
• Onderčo M., Smetana M., van der Meer S., & Etienne T. (2022). When do the Dutch want to join the nuclear ban treaty? Findings of a public opinion survey in the Netherlands. Nonproliferation Review, 28(1-3), 149-163.
• Rosendorf O., Smetana M., & Vranka M. (2021). Disarming Arguments: Public Opinion and Nuclear Abolition. Survival, 63(6), 183-200. UT-WOS link
• Onderčo M., & Smetana M. (2021). German views on US nuclear weapons in Europe: public and elite perspectives. European Security, 30(4), 630-648. UT-WOS link
• Martínková H., & Smetana M. (2020). Dynamics of norm contestation in the Chemical Weapons Convention: The case of 'non-lethal agents. Politics, 40(4), 428-443. UT-WOS link
• Ganguly S., Smetana M., Abdullah S., & Karmazin A. (2019). India, Pakistan, and the Kashmir dispute: unpacking the dynamics of a South Asian frozen conflict. Asia Europe Journal, 17(1), 129-143. UT-WOS link
• Klosek K., Bahenský V., Smetana M., & Ludvík J. (2021). Frozen Conflicts in World Politics: A New Dataset. Journal of Peace Research, 58(4), 849-858. UT-WOS link
• Onderčo M., Tom W E., & Smetana M. (2022). Ideology and the Red Button : How Ideology Shapes Nuclear Weapons’ Use Preferences in Europe. Foreign Policy Analysis [online], 18(4), 1-21. UT-WOS link
• Kalhousová I., Komasová S., Plíštilová T., Smetana M., & Vranka M. (2025). Elite-public gaps in attitudes towards Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: new evidence from a survey of Czech parliamentarians and citizens. East European Politics, 41(1), 142-158. UT-WOS link

Contributions in the conference proceedings

2025                            Neuron Award in Social Sciences

2022                            Award of the Czech Minister of Education for outstanding educational activities

Political Psychology in International Relations, Nuclear Weapons in World Politics, Crisis Games, Diploma Seminar II+III, Theory and Practice of Academic Work, Methodology for Ph.D. Students

political psychology / nuclear weapons / frozen conflicts / norms and deviance in IR / surveys / experiments

2025–2029                    “Microfoundations of Collective Defence (MICROCODE),” European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant, principal investigator

2025–2028                    “Foreign Interference by Foreign Powers in the Context of Contemporary Geopolitical and Technological Changes (INTERFER),” Operational Program Johannes Amos Comenius (OPJAK), principal investigator

2025–2027                    “Strengthening Democratic Resilience Through Digital Twins (TWIN4DEM),” Horizon Europe Framework Program (HORIZON–RIA), senior researcher

2024–2028                    “Peace Research Community Europe (PEACE),” COST Action program – European Cooperation in Science and Technology, member of the Management Committee, senior researcher, & Charles University team leader

2024–2029                    “Peace Research Center Prague II,” University Center of Excellence (UNCE) program, Charles University, project director & senior researcher

2023–2024                    “Public Support for Nuclear Arms Control: An Experimental Survey Approach,” 2022 Nuclear Security Grant Program, Stanton Foundation (U.S.), principal investigator

2022–2024                    “Beyond Nuclear Deterrence” (Rethinking Nuclear Deterrence), McArthur Foundation, Harvard University – John F. Kennedy School of Government, researcher & Charles University team leader

2022–2025                    “Experimental Lab for International Security Studies (ELISS),” PRIMUS program, Charles University, principal investigator

2018–2023                    “Peace Research Center Prague,” University Center of Excellence (UNCE), Charles University, project coordinator & researcher

2021–2022                    “Strategic Communication: Lessons from COVID-19”, Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, researcher

2019–2020                    “Moral Foundations of International Security: An Experimental Approach,” Fulbright Program, Fulbright-Masaryk Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Stanford University, principal investigator

2018–2019                    “Expanding the Study of the Nuclear Taboo: Cross-National and Multi-Dimensional Perspectives,” International Studies Association (ISA), Catalytic Research Grant, principal investigator

2017–2018                    “Cyber-League: Volunteer Capacity Building in Cyber Defense,” National Cyber and Information Security Agency, researcher

2017–2019                    “Protection of Research Organizations in Relation to the State’s Economic Security,” Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, researcher

2015–2019                    “Early Warning Indicators of Escalating Frozen Conflicts”, Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, researcher

2014–2016                    “Indirect Coercive Strategies: Nuclear Weapons and Tacit Threats in International Crises”, Grant Agency of Charles University (GAUK), principal investigator

2013–2016                    “Global Prohibition Regimes: Theoretical Refinement and Empirical Analysis”, Czech Science Foundation (GACR), researcher

nuclear weapons; political psychology; experimental methods; international norms; stigma and deviance in IR