European Security and Defence: Challenges and Opportunities
How has Russia’s war on Ukraine reshaped Europe’s security landscape? What are the key challenges and opportunities facing European defence cooperation today?
The Political Economy of National Security, Critical Infrastructure and Securitization of Foreign Investments
This book examines how new flows of foreign direct investments from autocracies are framed, their effects, and the policy responses to them, within the context of challenges to the international liberal order. Chapters address thematic and regional issues, from national investment controls and threat perceptions to China and Russia’s responses. Collectively, they explore a new dynamic in international politics: the securitization of money crossing borders. Historically, foreign investments operated under minimal global regulation, based on the assumption that they were beneficial, and profit driven. However, the past decade has witnessed a radical shift in approaches to foreign investments due to changing investment patterns and the entry of state-sponsored actors into this traditionally unregulated realm. China and Russia are seen to leverage foreign investments to advance their long-term economic and political objectives. The book comprehensively examines the subsequent repositioning of foreign investment policy and its consequences for national and international politics.
Memo to the Arctic Security Roundtable: The geopolitics of Arctic economic activities
This brief memo supported discussions at the MSC Arctic Security Roundtable 2025 of the Munich Security Council, which has a particular focus on economic drivers and how they impact security and governance in the region. The memo directs attention to key vectors, both long-term and more recent, that are at the intersection of economy, security and environment across national borders in the Arctic.
Nomin Batsukh
Nomin is a Visiting Research Fellow at NUPI and part of the Climate and Energy Research Group. Her research focuses on climate change, energy tran...
Consequences of investments for national security
How do foreign direct investments from autocracies impact global politics? Join us for this book launch on 26 February to find out.
Breakfast seminar: How the former jihadis who took over Damascus embraced politics and toppled the Assad regime
The Assad-family has ruled over Syria for more than 50 years. In December, it took opposition groups less than two weeks to overthrow the regime.
The IDP situation in Borno State, Nigeria – returning to uncertainty?
Nigeria is faced with a protracted displacement crisis caused by jihadist insurgencies, banditry and natural disasters. This crisis is particularly manifest in the north-east, where for more than 12 years over 2 million people have been forced to move in to, out of and between internally displaced person (IDP) camps and informal settlements. Some have tried to return home or resettle to another community, only to have to move again. All suffer from limited access to essential services such as healthcare and education, and deficiencies in food security and adequate shelter. Moreover, the young age of the IDP population means many camp residents have few, if any, memories of their lives prior to leaving their homes of origin. The state of Borno is one of the most affected in Nigeria. Here, about 900,000 people continue to live in about 65 formal and 158 informal camps. In 2021, Borno State Governor Prof Babagana Umara Zulum began the process of closing the camps and returning IDPs to their homes of origin. While more than 100,000 people have already moved out of the camps, uncertain remains as to what the majority of IDPs will do once the camps are closed. This report aims to fill this knowledge gap by presenting a foresight study that, coupled with analysis of previous studies, draws on ethnographic data and field observations collected among IDP populations around Maiduguri in October 2024. The foresight analysis framework used relies on three inter-related factors: 1) the weight of history; 2) the contradictions of the present; and 3) the pull of the future. While this method cannot offer statistical representativity, it does allow for indicative scenarios encompassing known (albeit uncertain) risks and probable futures. These scenarios are not only valuable for policy planning, but constitute important pilot data for larger, more systematic studies going forward.