Behind Enemy Lines: Fighting Secession in the Soviet Borderlands
How do members of “parent-state” ethnic groups respond in the face of regional separatism? Focusing on Moldovans in Transnistria and Georgians in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Keith Harrington explores how local anti-separatist mobilisation during the secessionist conflicts in the early 1990s shaped violence and war.
The NB8–Ukraine Security Nexus: Shaping Europe’s Future Defence Architecture
Europe’s security order is undergoing a structural transformation against the backdrop of a multipolar world. Russia’s protracted war against Ukraine and its full-scale sub-threshold warfare against Europe are creating a security environment in which mistakes will carry historic consequences. In this emerging security landscape, Ukraine is no longer merely a recipient of security assistance; it is an important contributor to the development of Europe’s defence capacity. The Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8)-Ukraine security nexus has the potential to become the operational core of a wider European response to Russia’s long-standing security threat. To achieve this, Ukraine must be integrated into Europe’s emerging security architecture now. Data from the Everywhere War Tracker underscores the urgency: more than 450 incidents in the Euro-Atlantic region between 2022 and October 2026, in which Russia’s role has been established. At the same time, although every NB8 state concluded a 10-year bilateral security cooperation agreement with Ukraine, turning these agreements into operational partnerships has proved difficult and slow: for instance, a solid rocket fuel plant planned in Denmark by Fire Point has been delayed until 2027. What else, beyond its battlefield experience, can Ukraine offer Europe? Why might a “frozen” war turn out to be the calm before a larger storm? What role should Ukraine play in European security? You will find the answers to each of these questions in the report “The NB8–Ukraine Security Nexus: Shaping Europe’s Future Defence Architecture”. The report was prepared by the Sahaidachnyi Security Center (SSC) in cooperation with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI).
Science diplomacy and sovereignty in Svalbard
Power politics and security dynamics in the Arctic increasingly manifest themselves in international research and science collaboration. Changes are visible also in the archipelago of Svalbard, where research is increasingly marked by strategic competition and framed in security policy terms. To a greater extent than before, research in the Arctic is defined by security measures and cautiousness. This Policy Brief discusses how Svalbard’s status as both a geopolitical hotspot and a global laboratory for climate research makes for a difficult balancing act.
What can public opinion data tell us about Putin’s grip on power in Russia?
Support for Russian President Vladimir Putin is a qualitatively different concept than support for an elected executive in a democracy. It is essential to understand these differences to interpret public opinion data in Russia. This knowledge paper discusses that there is little evidence of widespread preference falsification in Russian public opinion data regarding support for the government and its policies as of yet, but preference falsification could increase with greater repression in Russia. Moreover, Putin’s popularity has decreased substantially over the spring and summer 2026, but remains high in both absolute terms and relative to his popularity prior to the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. There is great variation across age and ethnic groups in terms of support for Putin, while support for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine varies substantially by age, gender and ethnic identity.
Breakfast seminar: The NB8-Ukraine Security Nexus: Shaping Europe’s Future Defence Architecture
In this seminar, we will hear from four experts from Ukraine, Sweden and Norway on how the NB8-Ukraine partnership is evolving, what is needed next, and the role of this partnership for the European security architecture.
NB8 and the Drone Challenge
Drone incursions in the Baltic States and Finland have made clear that this is no longer a distant battlefield concern. This brief argues that as the NB8 framework matures into an increasingly like-minded security community, drone cooperation could stimulate market integration. A standardised, modular drone platform architecture, a European drone defence “Platform market” model, could give the countries the economy of scale that they otherwise lack.
Breakfast seminar: Russia’s illiberal conservatives and the warfare state
Russia's illiberal conservatives won the culture war but struggle on the economy. Katharina Bluhm explains why, and sheds light on why inflation now has become their battleground.
Alexander Cooley
Alexander Cooley is an affiliate of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and the Claire Tow Professor of Political Science at Barnard...
The Russia Conference 2026: Violence in Russia
Why are the levels of violence in Russia so high, and how do they impact the country's political and economic development and its international relations? These are among the topics we will discuss at the Russia Conference 2026.