The first suggestion for the foundation of an institution that would engage in research of international relations and work under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appeared very soon after the end of WW2.

Its high number of foreign connections, a good overview of the international situation and knowledge of the then current scientific research became very problematic for some of the institute's employees at the end of the 1960s.

[3] The historical building the House of the White Horse which stands in Nerudova street in Malá Strana, became its seat.

The greater freedom of society in the second half of the 60s was reduced again by gradually increasing ideological pressure, control, and censorship.

For the IIR the Velvet Revolution meant not only vast personnel changes but also a journey to becoming a truly independent scientific institution.

Professor Otto Pick, who led the IIR in the years 1994–1998, played a key role in the process of this change.

[6] On the edge of the millennium, the IIR was definitely already a confident, independent and highly professional institution that contributed to the development of international studies.

The first one is elementary, academic research that has theoretical variety and methodological accuracy and whose ambition is visibility on both the domestic scene and abroad.

[10] Studies the mutual entanglement of political and economic power in international relations, the understanding of which is crucial for strategic decision-making of both state and non-state actors in the contemporary globalized world.

[11] Is focused mainly on analysis of the development of international law in connection with new phenomena and trends of the current world such as globalization, migration or the growing meaning of human rights.

The most important conferences are the Prague European Summit (PES), the International Symposium "Czech Foreign Policy" and the Czernin Security Forum which are all held annually.

In putting together these conferences the IIR cooperates with important partners such as the MoFA, the Government Office of the Czech Republic, the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, EUROPEUM, PSSI or AMO.

It operates as a joint partner in a consortium led by the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, which implements the academic program European Politics and Society (Erasmus Mundus).

Almost all of the outputs produced by the IIR are also published and made available to the broad public via many communication channels but mainly through social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube).

[16] Gradually it went back to its original concept namely that of a strictly scientific periodical where Czech, as well as foreign experts, can publish the results of their research.

Nowadays the CJIR is peer-reviewed journal that is run according to the regular standards of academic publishing (every admitted text must go through a double-blind, anonymous review procedure).

The CJIR is a leading Czech platform for publishing of original results of independent research in the field of international relations.

[17] The main goal of this journal was to publish articles in the English language about Central Europe, as this condition would enable it to reach a broader audience.

[17] In the more than 25 years of its existence the journal became a respected, leading academic periodical that deals with interdisciplinary research of Central and East European politics.

[19] International Politics gained a favorable reputation mainly in the 60s, but its growth was stopped by the normalization and the issue from December 1969 was the last one for a very long time.

[22] The library is a member of the European Information Network on International Relations and Area Studies (EINIRAS) and it also participates in the project Knihovny.cz.