Civis is a non-profit research institute (think tank) located in Reykjavík, Iceland focusing mainly on foreign and defense affairs with special emphasis on the North Atlantic, the Arctic, Europe, North America and of course Iceland.
Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson was a journalist for the Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið and its online sister publication mbl.is for a decade (2010-2020), covering mainly politics and foreign and defense issues. Hjörtur has also worked as a communication and public relations specialist and advised politicians, including MPs and government ministers both in Iceland and abroad, on foreign and defense issues. Moreover, he sits on the foreign affairs committee of the Iceland’s conservative Independence Party’s and has written several papers on foreign affairs, in both English and Icelandic.
Hjörtur has also delivered numerous presentations on foreign and defense matters, both at home and abroad. For example at meetings and conferences in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Denmark and Norway. Including in the houses of the European Union Parliament in both Strasbourg and Brussels. He is also a frequent commentator in the Icelandic media on politics, foreign affairs and defense matters.
Hjörtur holds a bachelor’s degree in political history from the University of Iceland and a master’s degree in international relations with emphasis on European studies and defense and security studies.