The legacy of the Soviet Union’s collapse plays a greater role in the foreign policies of Georgia and Ukraine than previous studies have suggested. Conducting foreign policy in former Soviet countries can be a major challenge as the Russian state does not accept the new order. These are the findings outlined in the thesis of political scientist Per Ekman from Uppsala University.
Never before have there been so many armed conflicts across the globe. This has been shown by new statistics from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, UCDP, at Uppsala University. In 2023, the number of conflicts involving states totalled 59, the highest number ever since the data collection’s starting point in 1946. Previous peaks were seen in 2020 and 2022, each with 56 conflicts.
At least 237,000 people died in organised violence in 2022. A new report from UCDP at Uppsala University shows that this is a 97 per cent increase compared with the previous year, and the highest number since 1994. UCDP is the world’s main provider of data on organised violence. Its definition of armed conflict has become the global standard of how conflicts are systematically defined and studied
The Swedish Government was able to undertake and justify Swedish military involvement in Afghanistan 2002–2014 by describing it as a traditional Swedish contribution while differentiating it from American military operations in the region. Both consensus and a sense of continuity in foreign policy formulation are required to achieve broad support, finds a new dissertation from Uppsala University.
By providing the infrastructure that connects global flows and financial systems, major cities have increased their political power alongside the nation-states. In some cases, they are pursuing their own foreign policy in several areas. In her PhD thesis Kristin Ljungkvist, at Uppsala University, has studied the effects of this development and argues that certain risks should be heeded.
Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest university in Sweden. With more than 50,000 students and 7,500 employees in Uppsala and Visby, we are a broad university with research in social sciences, humanities, technology, natural sciences, medicine and pharmacology. Our mission is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to society on a long-term basis. Uppsala University is regularly ranked among the world’s top universities.
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