Non-allied states in a changing Europe: Sweden and its bilateral relationship with Finland in a new security context

Swedish security policy has experienced dramatic developments in recent decades. With the end of the Cold War, Swedish security policy could not identify any military threat to the country’s security, and so the armed forces were dramatically reduced. What remained of Swedish defence shifted the focus...

China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the New Eurasian Order

As Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has redirected the structures and the objectives of both foreign and domestic policy in the PRC. BRI’s goal is primarily economic: to increase trade and investment along China’s periphery by funding and building infrastructure...

EU referendum: the beginning, not the end, of Brexiteers’ problems

On 23 June 2016, Britain voted to leave the European Union. The referendum outcome triggered resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron and his replacement by former Home Secretary Theresa May. This brief enquires into why Cameron lost the referendum battle and what the major challenges facing the new...

China's New Development Bank and Infrastructure-led Growth

In view of China’s recent launch of several new development banks (AIIB, OBOR, NDB) with a central focus on infrastructure, this NUPI Brief takes a look at how China’s infrastructure projects have fared both at home and abroad in the past. It asks the question: Does economic growth, boosted by infrastructure...

More teeth for the NATO-Tiger How the Framework Nation Concept can reduce NATO’s growing formation – capability gap

How can the Framework Nation Concept reduce NATO’s growing formation – capability gap?

Military non-alignment, political solidarity, and a retreat to territorial defence: how to understand the Swedish NATO-debate

Expectations for the Warsaw Summit: Conventional and nuclear responses to Russian belligerence

This paper describes two aspects of the changed security environment. First, it discusses NATO’s response to the new threats on its eastern and southern borders. The Alliance took a number of modest steps at the Wales Summit in september 2014 to deal with those, but were they enough? Will it announce...

Can NATO’s new Very High Readiness Joint Task force deter?

This Policy Brief is an extended version of an article that first published in the journal Atlantisch Perspeetief (39:6) under the headline ”NATO’s new spearhead force: Credible deterrence?”

Rethinking Strategy: NATO and the Warsaw Summit

Holding the borders, holding the centre: the EU and the refugee crisis

What has come to be called the ‘refugee crisis’ is the latest in a series of crises bedevilling the European Union – the four-fold monetary,budgetary, economic and financial ‘Euro-crisis’; a geopolitical security challenge posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,the war in Syria and incursions into NATO...

China’s Political Priorities in the Nordic Countries: from technology to core interests

Chinese policymakers have identified a number of priorities that motivate them to observe and interact with the Nordic countries. While one can assume that the Nordic countries appear far from frequently on China’s foreign policy agenda, they have unique competences and are open to increased engagement...

Holding the borders, holding the centre: the EU and the refugee crisis

What has come to be called the ‘refugee crisis’ is the latest in a series of crises bedevilling the European Union – the four-fold monetary, budgetary, economic and financial ‘Euro-crisis’; a geopolitical security challenge posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war in Syria and incursions into NATO...

Financial Plumbing for Big Beer

This policy brief departs from the idea of studying multinational corporations’ “global wealth chains” (Seabrooke and Wigan 2014a, 2014b). This can tell us how companies protect and create wealth by decentering their corporate forms in advantageous jurisdictions. The brief proposes a method for studying...

The U.S. Presidential Election and its Implications on Middle East Policy

Preparing Civilian Experts to work in Vulnerable Places: Unveiling Brazil’s Potential

Nord Stream 2: policy dilemmas and the future of EU gas market

The Nord Stream 2 (NS2) gas pipeline project is one of the most controversial issues in EU gas-related debates today. Its proponents hold that the project is driven by purely commercial considerations, while opponents label it as political and contradictory to EU goals and rules. The project has also...

Mispricing Argentine soybean exports

Reform, Renegotiation and Referendum

The UK stands on the brink of a momentous decision: whether to leave or remain in the European Union. Unlike all the other states that have sought late entry to the EU, the UK did not hold a referendum on whether to join in 1973: the decision was taken on the basis of a parliamentary vote. However, in...

UN peacekeeping as a learning organisation : From Brahimi to the HIPPO (2000-2015)