Petr Kratochvíl, our director and author of the book of the year

Congratulations to our Director, Mr. Petr Kratochvíl, whose book ''The European Union and the Catholic Church: Political Theology of European Integration'', co-authored by Tomáš Doležal and published in 2015 by Palgrave Macmillan won the prestigious Religion and International Relations Book Award of the American International Studies Association. Mr Kratochvíl and Mr Doležal will be officially honored by the Religion and International Relations Book Award during the gala dinner held on the occasion of anniversary conference of the American International Studies Association which will take place in February 2017 in Baltimore. The book deals with mutual relations between the Catholic Church and the European Union and therefore it contributes to the debate about the theoretical background of the relationship between religious and secular institutions. Controversial argument that secular institutions also develop their own implicit religion is of special interest.

Professor Petr Kratochvíl is the Director of the Institute of International Relations in Prague and a lecturer at several Czech universities. He is the Chairman of the Academic Council of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as well as a member of a range of academic and scientific councils. Petr Kratochvíl represents the IIR in various international associations such as the Trans European Policy Studies Association or the European Consortium for Political Research. He has published extensively on European integration, EU-Russian relations, institutional reform and the EU enlargement, the role of religion in international affairs, and international relations theory. He is also often called upon to present his analyses by various Czech and foreign media.