THE EASTERN EUROPE STUDIES CENTRE BECOMES THE GEOPOLITICS AND SECURITY STUDIES CENTER (GSSC)
THE EASTERN EUROPE STUDIES CENTRE BECOMES THE GEOPOLITICS AND SECURITY STUDIES CENTER (GSSC)
Analysing international policy processes and Lithuania’s role in them

Linas Kojala

Director
Biography

Linas Kojala is the CEO of the Geopolitics and Security Studies Center since 2016. He also teaches international relations at Vilnius University.

Kojala is a noted commentator on international affairs and security, contributing to Lithuanian and global media, with features in CNN, Chicago Tribune, Politico, BBC, Die Welt, and Berlingske. A Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University during 2017-2018, he also served as an Associate Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in 2020.

In 2023, he was recognized as a Munich Young Leader by the Munich Security Conference and the Korber Foundation. He was invited to Future Leaders’ programmes in France, Japan and other countries. He is the author of two books on European politics and US foreign policy.

Kojala holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in European Studies from Vilnius University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Global Business from Oxford University, and an MBA from the University of Cambridge.

In 2023, Kojala received the Titanium Award from the media outlet DELFI for his foreign policy commentary. He has consistently ranked as one of the second or third most influential public figures in Lithuania, securing second place in 2024.

Areas

01 Lithuania
02 European Union
03 NATO
04 United States of America

Other analysts and experts

Edward Lucas Associate Expert

He is a former senior editor of the British weekly The Economist and is a non-resident senior analyst at CEPA.

Denis Cenusa Associate expert

Associate Expert at the GSSC and Research Fellow and PhD student at the Institute of Political Science at the Justus Lybig University of Giessen, Germany, researching global governance and the resilience of countries in the EU neighbourhood.

Tomas Janeliūnas Senior Research Manager

Professor, Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University.

Maksimas Milta Associate Expert

Researcher at the ReThink.CEE programme of the German Marshall Fund in the USA and former Head of Communication and Development at the European Humanities University. His research focuses on Belarusian processes.