Michal Smetana
Director
Michal is the Head Researcher and Coordinator of Peace Research Center Prague. He is also an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, and Head Researcher at the Experimental Lab for International Security Studies (ELISS).
RESEARCH FOCUS
In his research, Michal focuses on nuclear and chemical weapons in world politics, arms control and disarment, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, deterrence theory, political psychology, interstate wars, foreign policy attitudes, and norms and deviance in international affairs.
Since September 2024, he has been the recipient of the prestigious ERC Starting Grant, under which he focuses on the stability of military alliances (project MICROCODE).
selected publications
Smetana, M., Sukin, L., Herzog, S., & Vranka, M. (2025). Atomic responsiveness: How public opinion shapes elite beliefs and preferences on nuclear weapon use. European Journal of International Security
Smetana, M., Vranka, M., & Rosendorf, O. (2025). 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
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. Journal of Global Security Studies
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
Smetana, M. (2024). Microfoundations of domestic audience costs in nondemocratic regimes: Experimental evidence from Putin’s Russia. Journal of Peace Research
Rosendorf, O., Smetana, M., & Vranka, M. (2023). Algorithmic aversion? Experimental evidence on the elasticity of public attitudes to “Killer robots.” Security Studies
Smetana, M., Vranka, M., Rosendorf, O. (2023). The “Commitment Trap” Revisited: Experimental Evidence on Ambiguous Nuclear Threats. Journal of Experimental Political Science
Smetana M., Onderco M. (2022). From Moscow With a Mushroom Cloud? Russian Public Attitudes to the Use of Nuclear Weapons in a Conflict With NATO. Journal of Conflict Resolution
Smetana M., Onderco M. (2022) Elite-Public Gaps in Attitudes to Nuclear Weapons: New Evidence from a Survey of German Citizens and Parliamentarians. International Studies Quarterly
Smetana M., O’Mahoney J. (2021). NPT as an antifragile system: How contestation improves the nonproliferation regime. Contemporary Security Policy
Smetana M., Wunderlich C. (2021). Nonuse of Nuclear Weapons in World Politics: Toward the Third Generation of “Nuclear Taboo” Research. International Studies Review
Smetana, Michal. (2019). Nuclear Deviance: Stigma Politics and the Rules of the Nonproliferation Game. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
contact:
Email address: michal.smetana@fsv.cuni.cz