SIPRI Update May 2023: New peace operations data, 2023 Stockholm Forum, untangling the world’s crises and more

This month SIPRI released new data on multilateral peace operations. A topical backgrounder summarizes the key findings from the new data along with important developments related to multilateral peace operations during the year. It also includes six interactive visualizations that capture trends in the data. The number of international personnel deployed to multilateral peace operations around the world increased by 2.79 per cent during 2022, reaching 114 984 by 31 December. The biggest year-on-year changes in personnel numbers were an increase of 3771 (4.2 per cent) in sub-Saharan Africa and a decrease of 541 (–6.7 per cent) in Europe.

Read more | Download the SIPRI Map of Multilateral Peace Operations

On 15–17 May, over 300 participants from 56 countries and over 40 partner organizations convened in person for the annual Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development. The topic at the centre of this year’s Forum was ‘Seeking Solutions for Turbulent Times’. In his welcoming address, Stefan Löfven, Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board, laid out the compounding and parallel challenges behind our turbulent times, and he opened the Forum as a safe space for exploring new ideas. ‘We will not stop at describing the problems. Our aim is to walk out of here with new, innovative solutions to address the complex, turbulent times we face,’ said Löfven.

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Apart from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the civil war in Sudan, there are armed conflicts in 55 other countries. Geopolitical tensions are intensifying both at the global level and in key volatile regions such as the Gulf. In addition, the pressure of climate change is increasing and the food insecurity crisis is sharpening. Against this backdrop, the SIPRI Governing Board convened a public conversation on how to untangle this complexity and where to start.

Read more | Watch the event

Last month, SIPRI experts and researchers travelled to Brussels to participate in several events convened by the Swedish Permanent Representation to the European Union (EU) as part of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU. The trip was a significant opportunity to engage in bilateral discussions with diplomats, policymakers, researchers and practitioners from both the climate change and security sectors.

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In this SIPRI Conversation, Stephanie Blenckner, Director of Communications at SIPRI, speaks with Ambassador Michael Sahlin, Distinguished Associate Fellow at SIPRI, about the implications of the Turkish elections. Ambassador Sahlin posits that the main focus for the Turkish population is the economy, which has been declining under the current regime. However, factors such as President Erdogan’s strong political position and the opposition’s plans for economic and democratic reforms may also come into play.

Watch the SIPRI Conversation

On 27 April, SIPRI invited Costa Rica’s former President Laura Chinchilla for an informal discussion on gender, peace and security. President Chinchilla is the country’s first woman to serve in this role. Chinchilla argues that the most significant security challenge in Latin America is organized crime. Addressing this issue requires regional and global cooperation to enhance police services and implement effective social policies. 

Watch the SIPRI Spotlight Interview

The following articles by SIPRI experts were recently published:

• ‘Interview with Robert E. Kelley’, published by Atomic Reporters on 23 May.

• ‘Seconded vs contracted personnel’ and ‘Women’s participation’ by Timo Smit in The New Civilian CSDP Compact: Food for Thought, published by the European Union Institute for Security Studies and the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management on 23 May.

• ‘Ten-year review of China’s defence budget: Steadily toward modernisation’, by Fei Su and Xiao Liang, published by 9DASHLINE on 9 May.