Matej Kandrík is a doctoral candidate of Political Sciences specializing in Security and Strategic Studies at Masaryk University in Brno.  Since 2019 he is the director of the Slovak think-tank STRATPOL – Strategic Policy Institute.  His research focuses on comprehensive defense, paramilitarism, strategic communication, and propaganda. In the years 2015-2018 he worked as an editor-in-chief of the security portal On War | On Peace, dedicated to strategic thinking, modern warfare, and security. In 2016 he undertook a research stay at the University of Defense in Warsaw. Previously, he contributed as an external analyst to the portal Visegrad Insight and as a research analyst to the think tank German Marshall Fund of the United States.