Ivana Karásková is a China Team Lead at Association for International Affairs (AMO). In 2016, she founded and has been since coordinating two international projects on China: MapInfluenCE which analyzes China and Russia’s influence in Central Europe, and China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe (CHOICE), a networking platform bringing together more than 130 China researchers from 30 different countries, analyzing China’s activities in Europe (any beyond).
From April 2023 to March 2024, Ivana worked as a Special Advisor to Vice-President of the European Commission and a Commissioner for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová. She consulted on the preparation of the Defense of Democracy package.
Since 2020, she has been a European China Policy Fellow at Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Germany. She is a Czech representative at China expert pool at the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE) in Helsinki, Finland. In 2021-2023, she worked as a Researcher at Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO), Charles University, where she focused on Chinese propaganda and disinformation.
In her research she focuses on conceptualization of China’s influence, China’s propaganda and disinformation, state and societal resilience, technology transfers to China, and EU-China relations.
Ivana holds Ph.D. in International Relations and other university degrees in Journalism and Mass Communication, European Studies and International Relations. She completed research and study stays in China (Fudan University, East China Normal University), Taiwan (Chengchi University, Tamkang University) and the United States (Fulbright scholar at Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University, New York).
On a number of occasions, she appeared at the European Parliament’s hearings. She testified at the US Congress, Belgian Parliament, Bundestag, and House of Commons of Canada. She briefed on China several constitutionally highest politicians and key institutions in Europe.
She was quoted in e.g. The New York Times, BBC, Politico, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, South China Morning Post, Deutsche Welle, Le Monde, etc.