In June 1997, the ASCR signed an agreement with the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching (Germany) and became the operator of the Asterix IV laser. This facility provides the basis for experimental research in the field of high-power lasers and their applications, notably in the physics of laser plasmas. The Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) has been made use of by the wider international research community. From 2000-2003, the European experiments at PALS were supported through the 5th Framework Programme of EU, in the frame of the Transnational Access to Major Research Infrastructure action. Since 2004, the laboratory participates at an Integrated Infrastucture Initiative project of the Consortium (6th FP). and Marina Hužvárová.
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.