On 30 May, the third session of the 2026 Foreign Affairs Academy was held. Now in its second decade, this year-long program offers advanced training and networking opportunities for future experts and decision-makers in foreign and security policy.
The third session, themed “Free Trade, Global Relations and Security”, took place at the Nobis Hotel in Stockholm and centered on the geopolitics of trade, transatlantic and Indo-European relations, and the role of a free press in a turbulent world.
The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Sweden, Ludger Siemes, opened the day, offering a German and European perspective on the prevailing security policy situation and the importance of deeper European cooperation.
Janerik Larsson, senior advisor at Stiftelsen Fritt Näringsliv (The Swedish Free Enterprise Foundation), journalist, and author, spoke under the title “USA 1776–2016: A Country Shaped by Ideas, Public Opinion, and Power,” providing a historical reflection on how ideas, public opinion, and power have shaped the United States as a nation.
Karl Lallerstedt, senior researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) and senior analyst at the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE), gave a presentation on economic security and hybrid threats.
Elisabeth Braw, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and Amanda Wollstad, editor-in-chief of Svensk Tidskrift, spoke on the theme “NATO, the Arctic, and European Defence Policy,” highlighting NATO’s challenges, maritime security, and the defence policy choices facing Europe.
The afternoon concluded with Inas Hamdan, investigative reporter at Expressen, who spoke under the heading “The Free Press” about the role of journalism and the challenges facing investigative journalism today.
Frivärld’s director, Anna Rennéus Guthrie, is the principal of the Foreign Affairs Academy. Read more about this year’s Foreign Affairs Academy here.