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“Are Research Security Policies in the U.S. Working? A Case Study on Research Collaborations with PRC Defense Laboratories and U.S. Federally Sponsored Research”: An Interview with Jeffrey Stoff — “Are Research Security Policies in the U.S. Working? A Case Study on Research Collaborations with PRC Defense Laboratories and U.S. Federally Sponsored Research”: An Interview with Jeffrey Stoff

In this Experts’ Take, conducted by Mathilde Huard and Bastian Szepanski from ISDP’s Stockholm Center for Research and Innovation Security (SCRIS), Jeffrey Stoff discusses the critical vulnerabilities in U.S. and European research security. Mr. Stoff, a non-resident Senior Research Fellow at ISDP, argues that current policies fail to prevent the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from exploiting fundamental research to advance its military capabilities. To address this, he advocates a “paradigmatic shift,” including the creation of a centralized National Research Security, Integrity, and Compliance Center (NRSICC) and a unified framework of “redlines” for allied nations. Read this interview with Jeffrey Stoff here.

The great danger of allowing China to co-manage global order — The great danger of allowing China to co-manage global order

Following President Donald Trump's recent meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping, Jagannath Panda writes for the Washington Examiner that the greater danger lies not in U.S.-China dialogue itself, but in the gradual normalization of a bipolar order in which democratic allies become strategically secondary. He further writes that preventing the emergence of such a G2 framework requires allies across Europe and the Indo-Pacific to prove that American leadership remains both strategically valuable and geopolitically sustainable. Read this piece here.

Sweden–Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Diplomatic Relations – A History — Sweden–Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Diplomatic Relations – A History

Sweden is frequently referred to as the “bridge to the West” of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, commonly referred to as North Korea) due to its long-standing and reliable diplomatic presence in Pyongyang. Sweden was the first Western country to open an embassy in the DPRK in 1975, and it is still one of the few European nations with a presence there. Sweden’s commitment has benefited other nations, particularly the U.S., by providing a key “window” into one of the world’s most isolated countries. Furthermore, Sweden, as the protecting power of the U.S. has facilitated high-level dialogues between Washington and Pyongyang, as well as ensured the release of several American citizens. This backgrounder delves deeper into the historical relationship between Sweden and the DPRK, with an emphasis on how Sweden’s role on the Korean Peninsula has developed as a result of its consistent engagement with Pyongyang.

NATO’s Strategic Engagement with Religious Landscapes: Navigating Sovereignty, Hybrid Warfare, and Sacred Spaces in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans — NATO’s Strategic Engagement with Religious Landscapes: Navigating Sovereignty, Hybrid Warfare, and Sacred Spaces in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans

This issue brief by Georgios Niveroglou examines the strategic significance of religious landscapes in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean within NATO’s evolving security framework. It argues that sacred spaces are no longer peripheral cultural concerns but constitute part of the broader strategic environment in which sovereignty, memory, mobility, and hybrid threats intersect. Through the empirical example of Kosovo and KFOR’s protection of Serbian Orthodox heritage sites, it demonstrates how monasteries, pilgrimage routes, and religious infrastructure can become focal points of political mobilization, information warfare, and contested legitimacy.

The DPRK’s War Dividend in Ukraine: Capabilities Gained, Trajectory Shifted, and the Long-Term Strategic Impact — The DPRK’s War Dividend in Ukraine: Capabilities Gained, Trajectory Shifted, and the Long-Term Strategic Impact

The DPRK’s support to Russia in its invasion of Ukraine has shifted from a denied but documented relationship into a tacitly acknowledged partnership. While this cooperation has helped sustain Russian firepower and battlefield operations, it has also generated significant strategic gains for Pyongyang. This issue brief by Niklas Swanström, Bastian Szepanski, and Mathilde Huard examines both the strategic benefits and enduring limitations of the Russia–DPRK partnership and assesses the implications for Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, and European states.

One Alliance, Two Wars: Why Israel and America Diverge on Iran — One Alliance, Two Wars: Why Israel and America Diverge on Iran

The ongoing confrontation involving Iran, Israel, and the United States has demonstrated a familiar strategic reality in alliance politics: allies may share enemies without sharing the same outlook. Washington and Jerusalem remain closely connected through intelligence cooperation, military assistance, missile defense systems, and a broad commitment to limiting Iranian regional influence. Yet, beneath that durable partnership lies an important divergence in how each side interprets the Iranian challenge. Read Jagannath Panda's analysis about how, while Israel and the USA are strategically interdependent, their long-term approaches to Iran strategy do diverge.

Growing Intersection between Research, Technological Development, and National Security: A Report of ISDP’s Research and Innovation Series — Growing Intersection between Research, Technological Development, and National Security: A Report of ISDP’s Research and Innovation Series

The Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), through its Stockholm Center for Research and Innovation Security (SCRIS), launched the Research and Innovation Series (RIS) as an online platform to examine the growing intersection between research, technological development, and national security in an increasingly complex geopolitical environment. The series brings together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to assess how different countries are responding to emerging risks linked to dual-use technologies, foreign interference, intellectual property protection, and strategic technological competition. Read this report to understand how Research and innovation security is now widely recognized as a strategic policy domain rather than a narrow technical issue. Download the report here.

Blue Economy, Strategic Seas: China’s Maritime Statecraft in Southeast Asia and Bay of Bengal — Blue Economy, Strategic Seas: China’s Maritime Statecraft in Southeast Asia and Bay of Bengal

This policy brief by Jessica C. Liao analyzes China’s evolution into a proactive maritime power, a transition central to its “Great Rejuvenation” and national security. She argues that beyond mitigating the “Malacca Dilemma,” Beijing seeks to establish a stable maritime order aligned with its strategic interests. The brief examines a dual-theater strategy that links China’s domestic “Blue Economy” with regional infrastructure development to promote maritime industrial and supply chain integration across Southeast Asia and the Bay of Bengal. While these initiatives expand Beijing’s influence, the intensification of assertive gray-zone activities in disputed waters has also triggered regional counter-balancing. Ultimately, Beijing employs normative rhetoric to position itself not merely as a participant in maritime governance but as a primary architect of frameworks that institutionalize its influence, argues Jessica C. Liao. Read the full issue brief here.

China’s Global Initiatives: Limited Reach, Strategic Openings in the Indian Ocean — China’s Global Initiatives: Limited Reach, Strategic Openings in the Indian Ocean

Jiayi Zhou writes that the fragmentation of the global, multilateral order is visible even in the range of purportedly cooperative initiatives on offer by great powers, which represent competing and alternative systems, (counter-)narratives, and poles of influence. This includes several “global” initiatives that China has put forward over the past several years—the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Global Security Initiative (GSI) among them. Intensified stakeholder competition limits the scope and impact of these initiatives, but also provides entry points for influence among smaller states. This is visible in the Indian Ocean Region, which has diverse local and extra-regional interests at play, and where China’s initiatives are one among a growing gamut of regional and extra-regional offerings for developmental and security partnerships, writes Zhou. She further writes that the main challenge will be to channel these competing economic, development, and security models towards a “race to the top” that enhances rather than erodes small-state development, security, and sovereignty. Read and download this brief here.

Events »

9 Jun

LGBTQ+ in South Korea and Learning Opportunities from Taiwan
10 Jun

ICES Annual Conference: EU-China Relations in an Era of Great Power Competition and Global Order Reconfiguration
Brussels
29 Jun

Digital Taiwan Lecture Series – Bridging Nordic Dual-Use Innovation and Taiwan’s Defense Ecosystem
22 Sep

Will China deliver? China’s next decade and the consequences for Europe: Final Conference – EuroHub4Sino
Brussels

Publications »

The great danger of allowing China to co-manage global order

Jagannath Panda

“Are Research Security Policies in the U.S. Working? A Case Study on Research Collaborations with PRC Defense Laboratories and U.S. Federally Sponsored Research”: An Interview with Jeffrey Stoff

Jeffrey Stoff, Mathilde Huard and Bastian Szepanski

NATO’s Strategic Engagement with Religious Landscapes: Navigating Sovereignty, Hybrid Warfare, and Sacred Spaces in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans

Georgios Niveroglou

Sweden–Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Diplomatic Relations – A History

One Alliance, Two Wars: Why Israel and America Diverge on Iran

Jagannath Panda

The DPRK’s War Dividend in Ukraine: Capabilities Gained, Trajectory Shifted, and the Long-Term Strategic Impact

Niklas Swanström, Bastian Szepanski and Mathilde Huard

ISDP Spotlight

ISDP hosted an engaging academic interaction with Prof. T. V. Paul and Prof. Nabanita Chaddha Behera — ISDP hosted an engaging academic interaction with Prof. T. V. Paul and Prof. Nabanita Chaddha Behera

The Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) hosted an academic interaction titled “India’s Search for Major Power Status and the US-China Rivalry,” bringing together two distinguished scholars of international relations: Prof. T. V. Paul and Prof. Nabanita Chaddha Behera. The discussion explored India’s evolving strategic posture amid intensifying great power competition, particularly in the context of the growing US-China rivalry and the changing architecture of global politics.

Polish Perspectives on Research and Innovation Security: ISDP welcomed Marcin Grabowski for a roundtable discussion — Polish Perspectives on Research and Innovation Security: ISDP welcomed Marcin Grabowski for a roundtable discussion

The ISDP team had the pleasure of hosting a roundtable discussion with Dr. Marcin Grabowski, Associated Senior Research Fellow with ISDP’s Stockholm Center for Research and Innovation Security (SCRIS). Marcin Grabowski presented current challenges concerning research and innovation security in Poland as well as core findings from “The Research and Education Security Report”.

Looking back at the Korea Foundation Guest Researcher Lieutenant General (ret.) Chun In-Bum’s stay in Stockholm — Looking back at the Korea Foundation Guest Researcher Lieutenant General (ret.) Chun In-Bum’s stay in Stockholm

During his stay at ISDP as a guest researcher (April 4th – May 10th), Lieutenant General (Ret.) In-bum Chun, a three-star general of the Republic of Korea Army, engaged in a series of high-level exchanges across Stockholm, all around his research into how middle powers adapt their defense postures to shifting security environments, with a focus on cognitive warfare, critical maritime infrastructure, and alliance adaptation.

Jagannath Panda spoke at a conference in Kyiv organized by he Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism” and the Representative Office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Ukraine — Jagannath Panda spoke at a conference in Kyiv organized by he Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism” and the Representative Office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Ukraine

Dr. Jagannath Panda, Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs, visited Kyiv in Ukraine and spoke at a conference titled “From Diplomacy of Resistance to Diplomacy of Action” organized by the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism” along with the Representative Office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Ukraine. This conference was held on April 28, 2026, with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.

ISDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) — ISDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR)

On April 22, building on a close relationship established in 2019, ISDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR). This MoU marks an important step in further enhancing collaboration and knowledge exchange between the two institutions.

The Taiwan-Nordic Forum 2026 Emphasizes Resilience Through Cooperation as Central to Defense — The Taiwan-Nordic Forum 2026 Emphasizes Resilience Through Cooperation as Central to Defense

The Taiwan-Nordic Forum 2026, titled Resilience as Defense, was held on April 15, 2026, in Stockholm and called for closer cooperation, deeper knowledge sharing, and strengthened joint expertise between Taiwan and the Nordic and Baltic countries to meet emerging challenges together.