On the securty situation in North Korea in Svenska Dagbladet.
https://www.svd.se/expert-usas-och-nordkoreas-relation-pa-bottenniva/i/senaste
Belt & Road Iniative
Today’s contribution sharing knowledge on the Belt and Road initiative – https://insights.nordea.com/b-r-bridging-divide-china-nordics .
You might also want to read my original article on the Swedish approach to the BRI/OBOR – http://fhs.diva-portal.org/…/g…/diva2:1067710/FULLTEXT01.pdf .
Sanctions Reconsidered: the Path Forward with North Korea – NEW ARTICLE
New open access article in Washington Quarterly – “Sanctions Reconsidered: the Path Forward with North Korea”.
Read it to understand how North Korea survives, why sanctions (do not) work and what to do about it.
Vincent Siew Fellow joing our team
Ms. Sophie Chao has joined the project on “Beijing-Washington Power Shift in the South China Sea” for three month as a Vincent Siew Fellow. After her stay in Sweden Ms. Chao will pursue her M.A. at Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in fall 2017.
For more information see: https://www.ui.se/english/about/staff/sophie-chao/
Speaking on North Korea and East Asian Security
Today I spoke at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs on North Korea and East Asian Security – see http://www.ui.se/evenemang/north-korea-and-east-asian-security. I was telling the story about why North Korea survives despite unprecedented international sanctions and what to do about the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Promoted to Associate Professor (Docent)
Open access publications from the Asia Program
Several publications from my research group has received a lot of attention and are freely downloadable online. Visit http://www.ui.se/nyheter/aktuellt/uppmarksammad-forskning-inom-asienprogrammet.aspx for links.
New PhD Candidate
Ms. Wrenn Yennie Lindgren (web) has joined our Power Shift in East Asia program. Yennie Lindgren specializes in international relations of the Asia Pacific and Japanese foreign and security policy. Besides being a PhD candidate at our program, she is also a Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and a Visiting Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (SIIA).
New project on the South China Sea after the ruling of the International Court of Arbitration
New project on “The Beijing-Washington Power Shift in the South China Sea after the ruling of the International Court of Arbitration“ in collaboration with The Association of Foreign Relations, Taipei, Taiwan.
The project looks to track political, military and diplomatic developments in the South China Sea and compare the impacts of the afore-mentioned in addition to those of other significant cases. The project also seeks to examine the role and use of soft power and its projection in the South China Sea. It is hoped that different viewpoints and perspectives could be shared, exchanged and discussed between the two sides.
Besides research on the topic, seminars and workshops will be held in Taiwan and in Sweden. The project also includes exchange, with a Vincent Siew Fellow being based at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs during spring 2017 to conduct research within the scope of this project.
Partners:
The Association of Foreign Relations, Taipei, Taiwan
The Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm, Sweden
Key participants:
Dr. Mikael Weissmann (principal investigator, Sweden)
Assoc. Prof. Kwei-Bo Huang, AFR Secretary-General (principal investigator, Taiwan)
Dr. Emma Björnehed (project manager)
For more information see the project page.
Global Shadow War – new article
“Global shadow war: a conceptual analysis”, Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, 2015 (with Markus Lyckman)
Abstract:
The US strategic shift from nation-building to what has been labelled “light footprint” has carried with it a number of changes in the practices used when waging war on terrorism. These activities include covert and clandestine action by special operations and paramilitary forces, and others, operating under a shadowy mandate. It is essential to analyse these changes, due to the nature of the actions taken and the global reach and consequences of US foreign policies. The concept of “global shadow war” has been used by scholars and journalists alike to describe the practices associated with the light footprint framework, although the concept is ambiguous, lacks clear conceptual boundaries and is yet to be defined. This article attempts to resolve the problem of ambiguity through a systematic analysis of how and when the concept is used, in the process establishing its conceptual boundaries and definitional qualities. Using a method for concept analysis developed by Giovanni Sartori, the article provides a conceptual definition which is more clearly delineated, encompasses the characteristics found in the sources studied, and can be used when theorizing about the many practices taking place within the light footprint framework.
[Link to full text of published version]
[Link to accepted pre-publication version (PDF)]