Common Fear Factors in Foreign Policy (COMFEAR)

Common Fear Factors in Foreign Policy (COMFEAR)

By bringing together leading foreign policy experts from Norway and Czechia, this initial study – COMFEAR – aims to identify key issues of common concern and shared threats as perceived by publics and policymakers in Czechia and Norway. It then seeks to broaden understanding of the manifestation of these ‘fear factors’ and the ways that the two countries have responded to them – as well as how this has affected their foreign policy and international positioning. By doing so, the study will identify points of convergence and divergence in policy as well as sketching the international political consequences of the two countries’ various responses and approaches to these fear factors. These findings will then lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive, in-depth study that will look at the genesis of common fears and the particular configurations of their manifestation and responses to them in Czechia and Norway.

The aim of the COMFEAR project is to:

1. Identify common fears among Czech and Norwegian public and policymakers and their role in forming public opinion and foreign policy
2. Highlight convergence and divergence in manifestations of common fears
3. Evaluate the consequences – especially in foreign policy – of responses to those fears
4. Prepare the ground for an in-depth study on how to better respond to fear factors and, where appropriate, move beyond them in foreign policy.
5. Deepen cooperation between IIR and NUPI and bolster mutual understanding of foreign policy in Czechia and Norway