“I strive for a better understanding of Africa’s political situation, current events will have a significant impact on it,” says political geographer
The geopolitics of space and the distribution of political power in sub-Saharan Africa – these were the topics that first captured the interest of Bohumil Doboš from the Institute of Political Studies during his early years at FSV UK. He gradually found a deeper interest in them, which led him to a career as a researcher after completing his doctoral studies. Today, he is recognized as one of the Czech leading experts on space security or African politics, recently successfully completed his habilitation procedure and is already planning further research trips to Africa.
At the beginning of his research career, Doboš dealt with the New Middle Age theory. This led him to an interest in territorial issues of the activities of violent non-state actors and subsequently in territorial aspects of political power outside the modern “state” system. “Given the nature of today’s political map, it was only a small step from there to a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa,” he explains. “This region fascinated me particularly because of the way traditional African power structures intertwine with externally imported modern state systems, as well as the diversity of ways in which different communities respond to the many challenges they face,” he adds.
In his experience, the African continent is often viewed only from the outside, using many simplifications. He considers the research visits, he has been regularly undertaking in recent years, to be crucial to understanding the situation in this area. “The development of political organization in sub-Saharan Africa is very different from European, Western, but also, for example, Chinese or Indian experiences,” he emphasizes. “Without trips to the continent and contact with local academics, practitioners, and even residents, we would be deprived of an important African perspective and experience,” he notes. Together with his colleagues, he strives to correct the so-called “non-African bias” and gain a better understanding of what is happening in the region. “And, contrary to many stereotypes, our visits are always very pleasant, we meet many very nice people on the continent and we taste delicious food,” he adds.
Thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Doboš and his colleague Assoc. Prof. Martin Riegl have been able to further develop their research activities in the last year. Within the Centre of African Studies, they have managed to expand their network of contacts with academic institutions from Ethiopia and Kenya to South Africa and Botswana. A new study program, the so-called double-degree, is currently being negotiated with Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Thanks to the grant, a number of African academics have also arrived at FSV UK, where they have participated in the annual geopolitical conference or led a seminar on the South African elections. “We have now managed to obtain funding for the second time, which will allow us to invite students from partner universities to the geopolitical summer school, which will further connect our and African students,” says Doboš.
His current research focuses on Russian activities in Africa, which he believes are often only superficially investigated. Together with his former student Alexander Purton, he addressed this topic in the article Proxy Neo-colonialism? The Case of Wagner Group in the Central African Republic, published in the journal Insight on Africa, and subsequently in the text The Wolf I Feed: Typology of the Wagner Group in Africa, published by Russian Politics. “I am happy that I have managed to contribute at least partially to the expansion of knowledge in this area that is crucial for Europe,” he says.
In his opinion, current events on the international political scene are affecting and will continue to affect Africa very significantly. “African states are in a weaker position compared to regional and global powers. The powers do not attribute a privileged position to the continent and operate here more unscrupulously. This also helps us understand the core of their interests and methods of operation in other regions,” he emphasizes.
Space Security
In his research, Doboš also focuses on astropolitics, i.e. the geopolitics of space, which he was led to by the supervisor of his bachelor’s and master’s theses – political geographer Michael Romancov, also working at FSV UK. “Geopolitics deals very generally with the influence of the environment, geography, demography and other spatial factors on political phenomena. It tries to explain the influence of space on the distribution of power in international politics,” explains Doboš. “Astropolitics does the same thing only outside the regions of planet Earth. In interplanetary space, it points to the influence of the cosmic environment and gravity on our ability to act there. On celestial bodies, it then examines more the traditional influences of geography or the distribution of raw materials on a potential future power struggle,” he adds.
He explores this field – specifically the creation of power dynamics scenarios related to the colonization of celestial bodies and other activities on their surfaces – in his latest monograph The Geopolitics of Space Colonization: Future Power Relations in the Inner Solar System (Routledge, 2024). It primarily focuses on the Moon, Mars, and asteroid mining.
“The analysis showed that building permanent settlements on the Moon is a critical issue. Space agencies should therefore focus on this body. It should be followed by the potentially extremely economically advantageous asteroid mining,” he says. “Colonizing Mars should not be a priority, as it is currently primarily an ego-driven project of individual billionaires rather than a political or economic priority,” he notes.
Future plans
With his colleagues, Martin Riegl and Jakub Landovský, he also recently published a book on the territoriality of Islamist groups, which was a kind of culmination of their efforts to map the ability of these actors to control territory. “I still draw methodologically and empirically from this long-term project in other projects and in teaching, where I dedicate the course Territoriality of Radical Islamist Groups to this specific topic,” he adds.
After all, he also dedicated his recent – successfully completed – habilitation lecture to this focus. He based it on the article Between the Hammer and the Anvil: Limits on Territoriality of Daesh Affiliates, which he published in the journal Civil Wars in collaboration with Martin Riegl. “Since this is an ever-current topic, I was happy to be able to present it to the scientific council,” he says.
He wants to continue studying both African politics and territoriality in general, as well as astropolitics and space security. He should have another monograph published by the publishing house Karolinum this year, he is writing articles with his colleagues, and he is already planning more trips to Africa. “There is simply always something to discover,” concludes Doboš.
