On September 16, 2015 theOriental Institute of the CAS organized an international conference, which addressed the question of the meanings of democracy in the Middle East, Asia, and Russia and the role that democracy plays in the discourse of the political elites and non-state actors in these regions. The case studies at the conference described the situation in Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, China and Russia. Democracy plays a crucial role in the efforts of the Western world to promote peace and stability and maintain international security. However, in recent years, countries such as China and Russia have explicitly offered an alternative interpretation of democracy to the public, both domestically and internationally, one which builds on national, cultural and political traditions and contradicts the claims for universality common in theWest. Furthermore, non-universalistic discourses on democracy have become popular among diverse non-state actors, such as Islamicmovements, non-formal authorities, or civil society across the Middle East and Central Asia. These developments have important implications for both the efforts aimed at the promotion of democracy and for the advance of democracy in general. and Věra Exnerová.
The Academy Assembly, the highest body of the ASCR responsible for the topmost priority decisions related to the ASCR, held its XXXVI Meeting in the Municipal House in Vinohrady on April 22, 2010. Professor Drahoš, in his presidential remarks to the assembly, summed up his views: “The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic intends to continue its efforts to stabilize its position among public institutions oriented towards science and research for the benefits of all society. Science deals with the basic intellectual needs of people and fundamentally influences the cultural and economical level of national society.” and Marina Hužvárová, Gabriela Adámková.
The Institute of History of the ASCR celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2011. The Institute, re-established in 1990, is the successor of the Czechoslovak State Historical Publishing Institute founded in 1920 and incorporated in 1953 into the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences as the Academy´s Institute of History. In 1970, this Institute was abolished and reorganized to form the Institute of Czechoslovak and World History within the Academy, which was dissolved in 1989. In 1990, the reestablished Institute of History was merged with part of the former Institute of Central and East European History of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. The research scope of the Institute covers Bohemian, Czechoslovak and general (especially Central and East European) history from the Early Middle Ages to World War II, including the theory and methods of historical research, with long-term projects on encyclopaedic and biographical studies and historical geography. and Pavla Vošahlíková.