Reports | Briefings
China’s attacks to silence critics
The Chinese State is attempting to coerce the West into implementing self-censorship through recurring attacks on individuals and institutions that defend human rights in China. The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Stockholm has been notably active in its attacks on Swedish contributors to the debate. The most sensitive and triggering issues for […]
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Controlling the Past
In the height of the Covid-19 crisis in Russia, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree making it a criminal offense to destroy war monuments both in Russia and abroad. Soon after, Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defense wrote a letter to the head of the Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, asking him to consider filing criminal charges […]
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Putting Modern War in Perspective
In this brief, Oscar Jonsson, senior fellow at Stockholm Free World Forum, surveys the contemporary ways of understanding modern warfare. Moreover, he is analysing the main drivers of change in war but also society today. This includes how the information environment, artificial intelligence and the globalisation of finance is altering the parameters for statecraft in […]
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Follow the Money and end up in real estate in strategic areas
In this brief, Follow the Money and end up in real estate in strategic areas, Patrik Oksanen, senior fellow at Stockholm Free World Forum, explores how laundered Russian money is channelled to various real estate projects across Finland and Sweden. He further elaborates on how these properties often are located in areas with strategic importance, […]
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Strike First and Strike Hard? Russian Military Modernization and Strategy of Active Defence
In the brief Strike first and strike hard? Russian military modernization and strategy of active defence, Karsten Friis Senior Research Fellow and Maren Garberg Bredesen, Junior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), discusses the evolution of the Russia military capabilities and concept of active defence. The strategy of active defence was […]
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Challenges of modern deterrence and Swedish interests
In the brief Challenges of modern deterrence and Swedish interests, Leo Michel, Non-resident senior fellow at Atlantic Council, explains the basics of military deterrence and further elaborates on how the geopolitical shift and technological advancements have changed the concept of deterrence since the Cold war era and what its new intricate features are, especially concerning […]
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Illicit Finance and National Security
In the brief Illicit Finance and National Security, Joshua Kirschenbaum visiting Fellow, Alliance for Securing Democracy, German Marshall Fund explores how authoritarian regimes and private actors have gained a greater understanding on how to use new methods of finance to further their goals. Furthermore, he points to several areas more exposed than others to these […]
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Drivers of Russian Grand Strategy
Russian leaders may not have something that would satisfy the Western academic strategy community as a deliberate “grand strategy,” but they nonetheless possess a strategic outlook and a theory of victory for this competition. That theory is based less on direct competition and more on raiding, a stratagem that holds promise for revisionist ambitions and […]
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The breakdown of nuclear arms control and its implications
American officials believe Russia began conducting flight tests of a missile, prohibited by the INF treaty as early as 2008. The U.S. informed NATO of Russia’s treaty breach in January 2014. At that time the particular missile type was not yet disclosed. This dispute between Russia and the U.S. was not solved and finally the […]
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Winning the Internet, Losing the Elections
Leading up to the Swedish parliamentary elections on September 9th 2018, the newly established radical far-right party Alternative for Sweden (AfS) came into the limelight. With its harsh rhetoric, questionable international contacts and a huge social media presence, AfS made for a thankful topic to cover for journalists. Nonetheless, election results showed that AfS failed to […]
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